Perryapsis
by MossDeepThinker
Summary: An optimistic and understanding Quilava arrives at the school of an obsessive and bitter Treecko and tries her absolute best to fix his problems. When a field trip becomes embroiled in a fanatic plot, it turns out the Treecko's fascination has some connections to a sinister underworld. Rated T for occasional mild expletives, as well as a chance of darker themes. Romance included.
1. The Overly Dark Prologue

**Perryapsis**

 **Prologue**

This chapter is far too dark and complicated... I just felt there needed to be a prologue to set one of the themes of the story, so here it is. As for the "programming" sections of this chapter... I was a coder for a long time, but I'm not trying to imitate a real language or prompt of any sort. Also, I don't claim to know anything about finance or trading...

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

/-

\C:\Users\may_salyut\Documents\ninetech_enquiry

 _organisation("Ninetech Industries")_

 _ceo("UNDISCLOSED")_

 _location("Unova, Castelia")_

 _trading_currency("PD")_

 _revenue(504.5)_

 _operating_income(504.5)_

 _industry_1 = "Aeronautical and aerospace technologies"_

 _industry_1(294.2)_

 _notes("Pays no taxes; operating income equal to revenue. 210.3 PD of unaccounted revenue.")_

 _/-_

\C:\Users\may_salyut\Documents\seventhgen_enquiry

 _organisation("SeventhGen Demolition")_

 _ceo("M. Gnawson")_

 _location("Hoenn, Mossdeep")_

 _trading_currency("PD")_

 _revenue(210.3)_

 _operating_income(210.3)_

 _industry_1 = "Explosives and weapons derived from aeronautical waste"_

 _industry_1(210.3)_

 _notes("Pays no taxes. Overall revenue matches the missing revenue of NineTech Industries; SeventhGen Demolition appears to be a subsidary of NineTech Industries. Further investigation required.")_

 _/-_

 _\C:\Users\may_salyut\Documents\ninetech_enquiry_

 _filetype(".txt")_

 _date("07/sept/2013")_

 _ **If you are reading this, then I've already been snuffed out. Looks like the corporate fishermen have had a good catch. Another nosy parker out of the picture.**_

 _ **NineTech Industries and SeventhGen Demolition always seemed a bit shifty. Both shifty in the same ways. I'm not going to bore you with the details and maths; if you've found this, then it'd be easier for you to just have a look at the files yourself. Find the specific stuff you need.  
**_

 _ **With benefit of hindsight, it probably would've been better to store all my work a bit more securely. I mean, there are now probably fifty-thousand copies of them. And that many around the world would be useful, in fact, if only somebody gave a damn. All I ask is that you finish what I started. You'll have a better idea once you've read through it all, and hopefully, have some interest. I just want to make sure that all this dosh being diverted away from the impoverished goes back to its rightful owners.**_

 _ **Actually, that sounds a bit Fletchling-Hood-esque... too fantastic. Just make sure that those bastards don't get to keep it.**_

 _ **Don't get to keep anything.**_

 _/-_

 _WIPE DISK (Y/N)?_

* * *

 **A/N:** I know that this chapter really doesn't seem to belong in Pokemon. Perhaps I'm trying to make it too serious. However, all the later chapters should be a lot more lighthearted and... fuzzy. Don't worry. :)


	2. Volcanoes on Venus

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 1 - Volcanoes on Venus**

I've decided to update the story using Treecko as a main character instead of Riolu after a couple of conversations with readers, thinking it would be quite benificial to the story.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

School is boring. Insanity-causingly boring. The same insanity that caused Perry, a young Treecko, to start going to sleep early. As in, early in the morning. It was 3:18 AM and he was still tinkering around in his favourite simulator, Mossdeep Space Program. Perry's space obsession was what identified him as a nerd at school. In practically all his free time, he was either reading (about space), writing (about space) or playing simulators (spaceflight simulators, of course). It was the first night into the school term and he wasn't even going to try sorting out his sleeping hours (or 'dreadtimes', as he called them). His excuse for his father, Lucas, was that in space there is no day or night.

His father was a kind Lucario, but also weary and sad. Three years ago, two weeks after Perry's tenth birthday, his Grovyle mother, May, had gone missing. She had gone out to work in Jubilife City as an IT specialist and simply never returned. Lucas worked at a local research lab in Sandgem Town, slightly longer hours than his wife. He returned home, expecting to find her on the couch watching television, or playing games with Perry, who was, at the time, outgoing and optimistic. Instead, he found Perry looking confused and terrified, cuddling his Deoxys plushy. Lucas called the police and a search began, but even after three years, this was to no avail. Ever since, Perry had become even more secluded, shy and obsessed with space. Space had always been an interest of his, from a young age, and had been an interest of Lucas too, admittedly. But it was now the only thing Perry would associate himself with. It was heartbreaking. Lucas had tried his best to remain kind, forgiving and inspiring, but inspiration is worthless when one doesn't seek it. He was worried Perry was becoming depressed. He also noticed the child becoming stronger, and scarily, more violent. Not the 'beat-up' sort of violent, but every small motion he made seemed to be laced with bitterness, guilt, or a mixture of the two. His voice seemed incredibly dark and low for a Treecko of thirteen, often going hoarse without warning.

And somehow, he still hadn't evolved. Lucas was fully aware that Perry was getting picked on because of his evolutionary state, and he had chased the school up about it. But all he got was denial. That was all Lucas ever got. The police denied to Lucas that the search for May had ended. Perry denied to Lucas that he was ever sad, lonely or depressed. And the school denied it too.

Perry was currently constructing a space station in his game. He carefully docked each module of the craft together, piece by piece, gently nudging his large flightstick so that the two huge chunks of metal would join together, without damaging either. It required immense precision. Contrary to his father's beliefs, he had excellent sleight of hand. It was part of the skills that came with his secret hobby of battling. He knew he was different to other Treecko. He found he was also capable of using some moves he should only be able to employ if he was a Grovyle of Sceptile, and he even seemed to have inherited some Lucario moves from his father, such as Close Combat, Aura Sphere and Extreme Speed. Lucas always wondered how Perry somehow always made it on time to school, no matter how late he left their house. Perry would always debate whether or not he should try to join the battling team. He knew full well he was a more capable battler than most in the school, despite the fact he was only in the second year, and would most likely be accepted. Unless of course his age was a factor.

After pondering for a while about his life and, for the first time in months, allowing him to feel sorry about himself, he found his grip on the flightstick receding. His eyelids began to flutter and his eyeballs began to twitch behind them. He slowly lost consciousness, but a loud bang erupted from the speakers on his outdated PC as his space station violently exploded, and he started cursing at himself silently that he wasn't wearing his headphones. Lucas walked into the room and sighed. "Come on, Perry. School 'n' all that tomorrow," he said, quietly yawning, but Perry was already asleep. His sleep was dreamless.

* * *

Perry woke to find his head resting on his keyboard and a slight burning feeling on his right leg. He realised his PC tower was fried, as he hadn't shut down his game the previous night and it had blistered his leg a little. His monitor was showing a bright blue screen, which offended his eyes. _So, this is what a hangover feels like... Ugh._ he thought to himself. He cursed silently, for a second time. He looked at the small alarm clock behind him, on his bedside table, which read 8:40 AM. "Crap!" he yelled aloud. His father had already left the house, as he usually had to be at the Sandgem labs by 8:30 in the morning. He was a scientist who trying replicate Pokerus in lab conditions.

Perry sped downstairs and grabbed a snackbar, unwrapping it and swallowing it in one swift motion. He cursed again as he realised he'd left his book on orbital mechanics on his bed. He launched himself upstairs, grabbed his bag, books and the previous day's packed lunch, which now stunk of stale ham. He dashed into the bathroom and rammed his toothbrush in his mouth, getting a chance to look in the mirror. Perry was thirteen, so he was pretty tall for his age. He looked like any normal Treecko, with a predominantly light-green body, orange front and a darker green tail. He sighed in the brief tranquility his bathroom provided, before frantically rocketing out of the house. He looked both ways down the short street to make sure nobody was watching, then he accelerated away with Extreme Speed. He was slightly slower than usual due to his blistered leg, but he ignored it.

As Perry approached Sandgem Highschool, he began to slow slightly. He made it into his class only ten seconds slower than usual. He'd just 'ran' two kilometres in less than a minute and it had completely drained him. He was already ten minutes late and he burst into his form room with a loud crash as the door swung into the wall behind it, passing a Pokemon waiting outside the room. And then he remembered. Today was his form's turn for the head teacher's welcome speech.

Mr Rockhopper was a large, slightly plump Empoleon and was usually quite nice to Perry, thanks to his outstanding academic results, but couldn't stand Perry's tardiness. He was sure his Gardevoir form tutor, Miss Enguard would be forgiving, but from the look on her face, she might as well have been impaling Perry on the end of Mr Rockhopper's trident-shaped horns. He dropped onto his knees for a moment, deeply flushing as sniggers went around the classroom, and winced as he could feel the burn on his right leg. He staggered towards his double desk at the back of the classroom and sat at one of the two empty seats at the desk. Although he wasn't hated as such in the school, he wasn't exactly popular, either. He always sat on his own. He did have one friend, however, a Dewott by the name of Sam Otto. He looked like any other Dewott, with a light blue body, whiskers and a dark blue section of fur above his legs where two large clamshells resided. The problem was, his designated place was next to Adelaide, the Prinplup daughter of the headmaster. She looked a little different from most Prinplup, with turquoise outer feathers instead of blue feathers, making her resemble Perry's colouring to some degree. She was the only Pokemon in the entire school who had a crush on Perry, an obvious one at that. Not that Perry expected anybody to have a crush on him. He was a thirteen-year-old Treecko who still hadn't even evolved.

"So, Mr Salyut. Late again, it seems," said Mr Rockhopper, with the most authoritative growl a penguin Pokemon could possibly make.

"Er, s-sorry sir," replied Perry timidly. _Crap._

"And why exactly are you late?"

"B-because- I mean, umm, I burn- hurt my leg at home, just b-before I left," replied the Treecko as confidently as a Buneary caught in headlights. He spotted a female Quilava waiting outside the door to the form room, a paw raised in front of her mouth, as if suppressing a giggle. She was quite tall for a Quilava. She had a dark-blue back, cream front and red spots at different points on her back. One thing Perry did notice, however, was that this Quilava's eyes seemed less narrow and more kind. He had a fleeting thought of attraction, but in a moment it was gone.

"Oh really, well you can show me at the end of my _clearly_ highly inspirational talk, Perry," said the Empoleon, triumphantly, with a pinch of sarcasm too. Perry winced as he heard this. He noticed the Quilava send a wry smile straight at him, and he glared back at her in response. But nothing was going to stop his reading about orbital mechanics, that was for sure. He quietly unzipped his ruck-sack and pulled out a book titled _The Gravity of the Situation_ , by Jebediah Turtwig, and read it silently under his desk. He paid no heed to the speech the Empoleon was giving, until he heard the words "Also, I would like to introduce a new student in your form, April Fuji.", at which point whispers broke out like wildfire around the class and Perry thought it logical to shift his attention, even for ten seconds. The cute Quilava from earlier trotted in confidently, a bright smile on her face.

"Hiya, everyone!" she exclaimed, the confidence and excitement in her voice catching everyone off guard, "I'm the new girl here! As, er, Mr Rockhopper just said, my name is April. I like music and art, as well as cool sports!"

"Thank you very much for your introduction, Miss Fuji," said Mr Rockhopper, rolling his eyes a little with exasperation, "I'm sure you're going to make many friends here." He gave a quick, almost imperceptible glare to the form, as a creepy Gliscor gave an obvious wink to the enthusiastic Quilava, now standing on her hind legs.

"We've only got one seat left, I'm afraid, so it looks like you'll be sitting next to... Well you heard _his_ name," interjected Miss Enguard, gesturing to the seat next to Perry.

"Okay then, that's all," said Mr Rockhopper, sounding pleased, "Have a good year!" He waddled out of the room in an Empoleon's royal fashion, before poking his horned head back in just to give Perry a look which said "You got lucky this time." Well, at least he forgot to check Perry's leg for any injury.

Perry hadn't even noticed that April was now sitting next to him, or that at some point during the speech he had raised his book above the table, which now earned a glare from Miss Enguard that quickly softened as she heard Mr Rockhopper's footsteps grow quieter. "Okay, I hope you all learned _something_ during that excellent speech," she said, shaking her head and smiling in Perry's general direction, "You may now talk amongst yourselves."

"Hiya!" exclaimed April, who Perry still hadn't noticed, making him jump slightly, "My name's April!"

"Ugh, so it is," murmured Perry, his gaze quickly returning to the book.

"Umm, so what's your name?" asked April, slightly taken aback by Perry's attitude.

"Don't you already know it?" said Perry grumpily, looking up from his book only for a second, but seeing April's unwavering smile he added "Perry."

"You mean like Perry-apsis?"

"Er, periapsis is the lowest-"

"That _is_ a strange word. It's in your book."

"Perhaps it is," grumbled Perry, now glaring at his book as if it had kidnapped his mother.

"A bit shy?"

"No, just uninterested," he replied, a little more confidence entering his voice in order to get the Quilava off his back.

"Well, I think we could make good friends."

 _For Arceus' sake..._ he thought, _Because I needed more than one friend... yup._ He was now ignoring the over-excited Quilava, and just mumbled some equations. He pulled out a notepad with a pencil sitting inside its bindings and began writing out equations and drawing various circles around circles and labelling different points on the circles with big numbers.

"So, Perry, what's with the circles?"

He noticed Sam glance over at him, smiling, giving Perry a wink that said sarcastically "Great start!"

 _This is going to be a long day, Perry thought._


	3. The Speed of Light

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 2 - The Speed of Light**

Here's chapter 2! I was planning on including a variety of new scenes in this chapter, like battling and _a couple others_ , but the chapter got too long; I'm aiming for about 2k words per chapter. Also, I was beginning to think it was a bit too early to introduce the main antagonists. So what you see is what you get. For the time being, I've got as much time as I need for writing and doing as much as I like, so expect new chapters every 2-3 days for the next week. It's the holidays in the UK. Thanks to St Elmo's Fire for reviewing.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any Pokémon, and I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

"Umm, they're... circles," replied Perry completely absent-mindedly as he found some useful-looking information about orbital inclination and its relation to transfer.

"I got that much," giggled the Quilava.

"Hey, what's it like, finally having a friend?" a female Bagon snidely remarked.

"Hey, I'm his friend!" yelled Sam indignantly.

"I can make you all shut up. You know, psychic powers and all that," said Miss Enguard with a slight smirk.

"Sorry, miss," said Sam.

"Yeah, you-" started the Bagon, when all of a sudden she simply was unable to produce sound from her mouth, which earned a few suppressed laughs.

 _Good, something's got her attention,_ thought the Treecko, finally reprieved from April's constant small talk. He returned his own attention to his book for about five seconds before he was interrupted by Miss Enguard; "Alright, I've got some announcements. This lunchtime it's the choir auditions, after school is the swimming test for those who signed up for rowing last year and tomorrow after school, at the arenas, the battling try-outs are to take place. Oh, your fourth period PE lesson is a fitness test by the way. Off you go to your first lessons," she said with her signature "You should be looking forward to this" smile, nodding to herself. Perry had signed up for the choir, but only because his father was worried about his son's voice condition, which was extremely raspy and low for a thirteen year old. Lucas didn't understand that intensive singing could actually damage the voice, especially for "juvenile" Pokemon like Treecko. Two years ago, Perry actually had quite a sing-song voice, being young and small. How he had changed. The other part of the announcement that caught his attention was the battling try-outs. He was still undecided as to whether or not he should show up. He would undoubtedly be mocked, but in all honesty it couldn't get much worse. Also, his talent would no longer be a secret. But the more he thought about it, he realised it was pointless hiding his talent. Why would anyone mock him for being strong? _They'll think of me as some kind of psycho,_ he thought to himself, _Well at least nobody will be interested in me._ He was suddenly awoken from his pondering and shame by Miss Enguard, who was used to his behaviour, mainly due to her psychic powers. "Something the matter?" she asked softly.

"No, nothing," he mumbled in reply. He hastily stuffed his book in his bag and ran after his classmates, without the assistance of a Pokemon move.

* * *

April definitely liked the Treecko, somehow. He was rude, dismissive, obsessive and tardy, and also had voice problems that made him sound like an elderly Snorlax. He wasn't ugly, however. But that wasn't why the Quilava liked him. Something about him made her want to help him. She could easily tell something bad had happened in his life, and rather recently, she deduced. All his symptoms indicated some form of depression and low self-esteem. April was great with other Pokemon, and felt it her duty to help the Grass-type. Another indicator of problems was that he still hadn't evolved. Most Pokemon tend to evolve at a certain age when they are happy. They don't need to be having the time of their life, but simply need to be comfortable with how they are living. This Treecko was at the right age, but clearly wasn't comfortable. He probably pretended to himself that he was, and that he would be better off on his own, like how he currently was. Additionally, April could tell that at one point he had been different. At one point he had all he could want, but something horrible had happened and all that remained of that happiness was his obsession, or fascination. He was still clinging onto the one thing that reminded him of his old life, but now it was the only thing left, so it had expanded into a complete focus of his life.

When April had left the classroom, Perry wasn't moving, or even responding. He was simply staring off into space. He simply sat there, presumably day-dreaming about something. Probably self-pity. She decided to hang back in order to keep an eye on him in case he didn't recover, but Miss Enguard went over to him and he immediately "woke up". Either she had used some sort of psychic power to achieve this, or Perry trusted the Gardevoir a lot. Perhaps both. Gardevoir in general are very caring and understanding, and this one seemed to be no exception, except for the one death-stare she gave to Perry when he arrived late, but April figured it was probably to put on a show for the headmaster.

She heard a rapid patter on the floor behind her and whipped around to see the Treecko dash past her a few metres before stopping, putting on a scowl. "Um, w-why aren't you with the rest of the form?"

"I kinda got lost," she said quickly and unconvincingly.

"Well, you clearly didn't. You're on the way to the next lesson, but you fell behind. You hung back to see me in the classroom, didn't you?" April added 'highly observant and logical' to her already long mental list of Perry's characteristics.

"Um, I meant to say I stopped at the toilet," April said, updating her alibi, her voice faltering for the first time.

"How convincing," said Perry, sounding very irritated.

"Okay, okay, yes, I wanted to see you after everyone else had gone. I just want to know what kind of Pokemon you are."

"I'm a Treecko."

"Well, I got that much... I know your life has probably been hard, but I only want to be a friend. I don't want to be annoying, irritating, to get in the way, I don't want anything from you, except a mutual friendship, okay?" she explained, trying her absolute best to replace her frustration with kindness.

"After the battle try-outs."

* * *

Perry realised how incredibly stupid he had been earlier. He had told an annoying Quilava exactly where he would be the following day after school. He would undoubtably be dropped for the team. He looked down at his hands and shook his head as he dragged himself onto the running track for their fitness test. He shrank to the ground with the rest of the form.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman, I'm your PE teacher for the year, Mr Shank, but you can all call me... How about coach? Sound good? Maybe Divine-Guardian-of-Keeping-Fit? Alright, I hope you get my vibe. I want to make this enjoyable and fun, but I won't stand for any slacking. Actually, you can call me what you want. 'Gale', 'Coach', 'Sir' or whatever you want," rambled the apparently humorous Gallade, peeking at his watch. "Anyways, today is a fitness test, as you already know, and I expect your absolute best."  
There were a couple of groans, but Mr Shank's attitude seemed to keep most of the Pokemon in high spirits, except for the Bagon who had been humiliated during the form period.

"The first tests will be stamina tests; how long can you run for. If you run outa' steam, quickly get to the edge of the track and make your way here. I will be... _tracking_ you performance and I'll know if you give up when you still have energy left. You will be setting off in groups of six, at different intervals so we can get through all of you. I may ask one or two of you to run separate tests afterwards," Mr Shank looked down at his register, "How about I do this by first name for a change? Adelaide Rockhopper, Alph Ruinston, April Fuji, Ash Korrona, Ben Carnage and Bonnie Eeree!"  
Six different Pokemon raised themselves from the low-cut grass. Adelaide puffed up a bit as she stood, as Prinplups do, and April _literally_ jumped up, causing a few Pokemon around her to jump themselves. Her expression was enthusiastic, as if this was a lifetime goal of hers. She bounded to the closest lane to the middle of the round track. Ash the Raichu followed a little slower, stopping in the second lane, Adelaide following into the third and so-on.

Mr Shank clanged his blades together with psychic force and all six Pokemon immediately started running. Overall the group seemed pretty well paced and even. Adelaide was a surprisingly fast 'runner' for a penguin Pokemon, making large bounds to make up for her short legs. However, it was April who caught Perry's attention.  
She was so elegant in her stride. Each stride had precise timing, and after every four steps a little blaze of fire would erupt from the red spots on the blue side of her body. Perry didn't realise he was staring, but Sam did. Perry was mesmerized by this.

"Hey, creep, why you watchin' the new girl like that?" asked the Dewott with a smirk.

"W-what do you mean?" stuttered Perry.

"Well, you're staring. _Staring_. You like her," said Sam matter-of-factly.

"What? N-no! No way! She's annoying and so far she's just gotten in the way."

"How's she getting in the way, and in the way of what?"

Perry had just been outsmarted.

"Why is she getting in the way? Is she _diverting_ your interest?" said Sam persistently.

"She... She keeps on talking rubbish."

"Oh, I'm sure she does."

Sam and Perry watched various groups of Pokemon run out on the track until it was their turn.

"Perry Salyut, Pam Chan, Stan Red, Sam Otto, Sally Mandy and Trevor Told," boomed Mr Shank's voice, amplified by psychic waves.

Perry, Sam, a large Pangoro, a Charmeleon, the Bagon from earlier and a Frogadier all walked to the starting line. Sam was in the first lane, Perry in the second, and the other Pokemon filled in the other lanes. A loud clang sounded, and all six Pokemon were off. Perry paced himself and was steadily in the lead, with Sam a couple of paces behind. Further back, Perry could see Sally the Bagon annoying Stan the Charmeleon, who fired a few embers at the Bagon, which shut her up.  
After running for a couple of minutes, Perry realised his group was now directly in front of the remainders of April's group, of which three were still running, April included. He snuck in a few discreet glances at the Quilava, which he disguised as glances at his own group. He shook his head in annoyance with himself, which Sam noticed. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking on our group," replied Perry.

"Of course, I would never doubt you," said Sam with a smirk. Perry was beginning to get a little bored of this and he began to theorise some rocket designs.

* * *

"You're in better shape than I thought," remarked Mr Shank.

"Erm, am I? I m-mean thank you, sir," said Perry after an entire half-hour at what seemed to be the sprinting speed of most Pokemon.

"You're going to be running again. I know you've got energy left," said Mr Shank, earning a sigh from Perry and an open laugh from Sam, "And you too, Sam."

"Hey, impressive stuff!" complimented April, tapping Perry on the shoulder, which made him jump a little.

"Er, th-thanks, I guess," said Perry, flushing a little.

"I had no idea you could do that."

"Yeah, yeah... I guess I've kept it quiet," said Perry, annoyed at himself for allowing the conversation to start.

"Okay, can I have Ash Korrona, Perry Salyut, Sam Otto and Sid Woody, please," said Mr Shank. Ash, the Raichu, along with Perry, Sam and a Sudowoodo all took their places on the track; "This is going to be a two-hundred metre sprint. You can use whatever methods you want, and yes, this is a race."  
Perry was having a bit of a mental battle with himself. Should he use Extreme Speed or not? His battling skills would no longer be a secret, but again, he was thinking about why he was bothering to keep such a talent from exposure.  
"On your marks, get set, GO!"

The group launched themselves forwards and Perry held the lead, but after a few seconds the Raichu was gone in a flash and was streaking ahead with a Quick Attack. _This is your last chance,_ thought Perry. He stopped for a second, earning a strange look from Sam, before he rocketed forwards at twice the speed the Raichu was travelling, who was two-thirds of the way to the finish. Three seconds later he had finished the race, Ash in second, Sam third and the Sudowoodo fourth.

XXXXX

April watched in awe of the Treecko, who clearly knew how to use Extreme Speed, but she was shattered to see Perry collapse on the floor at the end of the race. She sprinted desperately over to the unconscious teen and thought of the events of the day. When he arrived at the form room, he zoomed past her with so much speed, not at 'Extreme Speed' speeds, but holding the momentum of such a move. He then fell to his knees. This Treecko had used a move it was supposedly unable to learn not once, but twice, and in only a few hours. She didn't notice, however, the Shiny Prinplup who frowned at April's behaviour. She didn't even notice how everyone watched in surprise at the events unfolding before them. They eventually decided to follow the Quilava to see exactly what had happened.

Perry was lying on the track, his muzzle in the dirt. He was hardly moving, it barely looked like he was breathing. "Wass'up with him?" moaned Sally the Bagon, tired of the situation already.

"Can't you see? He's unconscious! He blacked out!" exclaimed April. Mr Shank pushed through the crowd of Pokemon.

"Settle down," said the Gallade calmly. He raised Perry's unconscious body using his psychic powers in the air a few feet in front of him; "You are all dismissed. Go to your next lesson." He began to walk off, Perry floating in front of him, a pink outline around his body. The rest of the class, except Adelaide and April went off chattering to the form's next lesson. April went straight after Mr Shank and Adelaide followed closely behind.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" asked April in a friendly tone, despite her choice of words.

"I could ask you the same question; what are you doing here?" retorted Adelaide, her tone much less kind.

"What're you both doing here?" said Mr Shank a little angrily, "You should be at your next lesson."

"I wanted to see Perry and see if I could help," said April innocently.

"Me too," added Adelaide. April now realised why the penguin Pokemon was behaving in that way. _She has a crush on Perry, and doesn't want any competition._ April, on the other hand, only wanted to help the poor Pokemon... _Or do I?_

XXXXX

When Perry collapsed, he could feel the auras of the Pokemon around him. There was, annoyingly, April and Adelaide, before the rest of the form joined them. His mind was being overwhelmed by their auras as it automatically tried to identify each Pokemon that crowded him. The strain on his fatigued brain put him fully to sleep.


	4. Booster Recovery

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 3 - Booster Recovery**

Probably not my best writing, but this chapter should introduce some new themes. I've also realised, when uploading an RTF file to FanFiction, it removes all the indents and tabs, so mini paragraph breaks won't be properly marked. It would simply take too long to fix, and I'm too lazy. Thanks to Wubking97 for reviewing!

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Pokémon, I would have a small loan of a million dollars.**

* * *

Sam still hadn't heard from the school about his friend who was apparently in the sick bay and he decided to head over to check up on him. School had ended an hour ago, and Perry had been asleep ever since he blacked out after he used Extreme Speed in a PE session. It was an easy ten minute jog from his house in Twinleaf Town to Sandgem High-school. He passed Nurse Bliss, a Blissey, who was having to work overtime due to Perry's predicament. He walked into the sick bay to find the new girl, a Quilava, sitting on a chair, waiting for Perry to wake up.  
"Oh, hi. What're you doing here?" Sam asked.

"Hi! I'm waiting for this Treecko-"

"Oh, I know his name." said Sam, sighing, "But _why_ are you waiting for him?"

"Well, I thought he was a decent guy today and he seemed quite hurt. So I thought I would wait for him."

"Hang on, how long have you been-" he began to say, until Perry began to stir; "Look, he's awake."

* * *

Perry could somehow sense the conversation that was going on around him, despite the fact he was in deep sleep. He could make out that Sam and April were waiting for him, and an annoying, anti-comfort part of his unconscious mind told him to wake up.  
He awoke slowly and groaned a little, and his eyes confirmed that the two Pokemon in the room were Sam and April. He had slept through the rest of the school day, due to what had happened during PE... except that had most likely only been a catalyst, as Perry only got roughly five hours of sleep the previous night (due to nobody's fault but his own). It was now 4:45 PM according to the analogue clock on the wall opposite his bed. "Look, he's awake," he heard Sam say. Perry blinked all the sleep out of his eyes quickly, and rubbed them hard.  
"Yay, you're awake, Perry!" exclaimed April over-enthusiastically.

"Ugh, so I am," said Perry sleepily.

"It's great to see that you've recovered, and I made a new friend in the process!" said April loudly, earning a forehead scratch from Sam which said "I had no part in this."  
Hearing the commotion, Nurse Bliss rushed into the room.  
"About time you woke up. It was only a bit of fatigue," she said, a hint of suspicion in her voice. She started hurrying around, gathering work and papers so she could leave.

 _A bit? Just a bit?_ thought Perry, _Well, I guess I'm a heavy sleeper._

"So, you saw him wake up, you know he's okay, so why don't you go home?" said Sam to April, annoyed, "Hey, Perry, why don't we hang out near the labs?"

"Sure, but-"

"Can I come as well?" asked April excited. Sam looked at Perry pleadingly.

"I suppose so," said Perry, his tired mind only realising the magnitude of what he had just said a whole second later, earning a dark glare from Sam; "I mean-"

"Thanks, that's awesome! I need to be back at my place at five, though." said April. She literally wanted to hang out for only about five minutes.

* * *

"Soooooo... why are you interested in the battle try-outs, Perry?" April asked, as the three of them, two reluctant and one over-excited, sat outside the Sandgem labs.

"Wait... battle try-outs? You want to join the battling team?" said Sam, twitching an ear.

"Er, no, not really... Okay, yes. It's a bit of a secret hobby though, battling," replied Perry, a little exasperated, "but don't tell anybody."

"That's cool! You must be a powerful Treecko to be able to use Extreme Speed! Only Pokemon like Lucario learn that move, right?" remarked April. Perry grunted in confirmation. "Are you friends with Adelaide, Perry? She seems to like you quite a bit."

"No. We're not. But Sam is," replied Perry

"Yeah, she's alright. She's very talkative-" started Sam, before being interrupted by April.

"Okay, it's been great hanging out with you guys, but I've got to go now! See ya later!" said April loudly, before she darted back home, making the other two Pokemon sweat-drop.

"Well, that was sudden," said Sam.

"Yeah, it was-" began Perry before he saw his father, Lucas, leaving the lab, "Uh, hullo, dad."

"Hi Perry, hi Sam," said the Lucario with a grin, "How have your days been?"

"It was fine," the both said in unison, instantly referring to the default response for teenagers.

"Who was that Quilava that just left?" queried Lucas, hopeful that Perry had somehow made a new friend, "I've never seen her around before. Are you friends with her?"

"Umm, her name is April, and we kind of... accidentally invited her to hang out," replied Sam as convincingly as possible, "and we're not friends."

"Of course not, perish the thought," said Lucas with a sigh, "Well, are you two gonna hang out any longer, or are you going home? By the way, the school rung me about what happened, and I have a few questions for you, Perry."

"Erm, I think we're done. I'm exhausted," replied Perry.

"Yeah, see you later, Perry, and Mr Salyut!" said Sam, waving as he started walking home.

"Let's go," began Lucas, walking with Perry back home, "So. You used a battle move during a lesson?" His tone made Perry slightly nervous. "No, don't worry, I'm not angry, just intrigued!"

"Really?"

"Well, you're a Treecko yet you can use a move that you could only learn if you were a Lucario. Say, do you know any _other_ Lucario moves?"

"Er, I know how to use Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, some others, er-"

"That's impressive. But please, please refrain from using them, because today has proved that you haven't mastered them, and that could be dangerous to you and your... _friends_ ," warned Lucas, "And that means you can't go to the battle try-outs."

"But how did you-"

"Your aura." he explained with a warm smile, "Oh, and I don't suppose you went to the choir auditions."

"Well, clearly not," replied Perry, desperate to change the subject; "Why are you coming home so early, dad?"

"Well, last week I worked overtime, remember? My team made a lot of progress, so this was my reward," said the Lucario.

"Sweet! So you can do the cooking!" said Perry, earning a smile from his father, "And did I mention I haven't had any lunch?"

* * *

Perry flopped on his bed and stared up at his poster of the MASA space station, in orbit around the Earth. It was such a beautiful image, the irregular shape of the space station creating a strange silhouette which seemed to merge into a full-colour photograph, with the harsh orange sun casting pretty rays on the camera. He picked up his book, _Reaction Control_ by Valentina Lombre, but only managed to read two lines before he could hear his father calling him; "Hey, Perry, you'll want to see this!"  
Perry groaned and slowly plodded down the stairs to the lounge to see what Lucas was going on about. "Look, the latest story," he said vaguely, pointing at the TV.

"Tonight's top story: The Mossdeep Aeronautical and Space Agency has finally confirmed the launch dates of a series of rockets that will construct a space station in orbit of the moon only two months away. Despite the short notice, MASA seems completely dedicated and the missions will mark a turning point in international space exploration, which has been in steady decline since the disaster of 2001, when the biggest rocket in history disintegrated above Castelia City in Unova, destroying many buildings and causing many fatalities. The lunar base will act as a springboard for future missions to the moon or the rest of the solar system," said a Jigglypuff reporter, standing before the huge Mossdeep Space Center. Perry was captivated. The Jigglypuff continued; "There have been a number of changes to the staff of the space centre, many employees have been displaced and many have been employed in order to give a fresh face to the fresh age." The image returned to the news headquarters; "In other news, a large number of Grottle have gone missing in Sinnoh, near Lake Verity..."

"Finally! Some news!" Perry was ecstatic, and rushed upstairs to his PC to learn more about the rockets, before he remembered the machine had nearly melted the previous night. "By the way, there are some more choir auditions for those who missed them yesterday!" yelled his father from downstairs so Perry could hear. He groaned and slumped on his bed, procrastinating for the rest of the evening, before going to sleep relatively early for him.

* * *

Perry woke up at 8:00 AM, not late, and went downstairs to get some breakfast. Lucas was sat on the sofa, a bowl of cereal in his hand, watching the TV. At first, Perry was excited, remembering the news report from the previous day, but upon seeing the headline "High-speed rail service commissioned in Johto", he quickly remembered who he was. _I'm a crappy Treecko with one friend,_ he thought, which deflated him enough so the horrors of school wouldn't come as too much of a shock. He did all the regular morning things, eating breakfast, having a quick shower, brushing his teeth and packing his bag, before he leisurely trotted out of the house. There was no need to use Extreme Speed, he wasn't late at all. When he reached the north of Sandgem Town, he spotted a Grottle harassing a small Pichu. The problem was, he was right at the side of the only road out of the town wouldn't take half an hour to traverse, so he uneasily walked by, trying his best not to be a bother and to go unnoticed.  
"Hey, you there, the Treecko!" grunted the Grottle menacingly, "Got anythin' in that bag o' yours? This one ain't."

The sheer bluntness of the question and the stereotype of the perpetrator would have been comical, if only it weren't so real. As soon as his attention was diverted, the frightened looking Pichu scampered off. The Grottle advanced on Perry, now terrified. He began to figure the situation out, to an extent; _So, this has something to do with the missing Grottle of Lake Verity._ Perry looked around desperately to see if there was anybody around to help him; _But really, who would help me?_  
"Hey, I don't want any of your Tauroscrap, I just want to get to school."

"Why would you be so desperate to get away if you had nothing to share?" asked the Grottle, Razor Leaves now appearing around his shell. He released them and they seared and cut Perry's body all over.

"If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you're gonna get!"

* * *

Gale Shank was leisurely walking to school. Because all his lessons started at eleven o'clock, he didn't need to be as early as the other teachers. Sandgem Highschool was just outside of the town, and the quickest road was the northern road and this was the one through which most of the students came.  
But to his horror, on the right side of the road, he saw the talented Treecko from the previous day being confronted by a gruff-looking Grottle in the distance. It was at least about thirty-years-old, and was very large for a Grottle. Gale drew a connection with the imposing Pokemon down the road and the news story the previous night, involving many missing Grottle from Lake Verity. Gale was too far away to intervene at the moment, but he rushed forward to see if he could help.  
He began to panic as he watched the Grottle launch some Razor Leaves at Perry, leaving cuts and marks all over his body. But then, he heard something from the Treecko, a few moments before he released a barrage of incredibly well-practised attacks.

* * *

Adrenaline surged through Perry's body as he rushed forwards, forming a shimmering blue bone-shaped club from thin air, and he slammed it against the legs and face of the Grottle, over and over again. The Grottle was startled and surprised to see not only the young Pokemon fighting back, but also using a move it shouldn't be able to learn. A large green ball of energy began to form in its mouth, before it was released as a massive beam of yellow energy. Perry desperately tried to dodge it, but the Solar Beam was travelling too fast. He was slammed into a house behind him. Perry shook off the pain and recovered quickly, turning his tail into a giant green blade. He sliced at the Grottle. Perry then drew back his hands again, forming a giant blue ball of energy... an Aura Sphere. He released it straight towards the Grottle. Despite the injuries the Grottle sustained, it still made a valiant effort at dodging it, however Aura Sphere homes in on its target, making it nigh impossible to avoid. The Aura Sphere smashed into the Grottle with tremendous force, sending it flying backwards. In response, it started generating a huge Leaf Storm in its mouth, sharp green leaves swirling around within a huge vortex of air. It unleashed this vortex straight towards Perry, but he was too fast. He wanted to avoid using this move, but he had no choice. He was gone in an instant with Extreme Speed, and reappeared slamming into the Grottle with tremendous speeds, sending it tumbling sideways. It looked completely dazed, so Perry dashed off to school. The battle had taken about ten minutes, so he would be late if he walked. He didn't need to use Extreme Speed, however.

* * *

Gale was about seventy metres away when he saw Perry knock out the Grottle with Extreme Speed, dodging an incredibly powerful looking Leaf Storm that collided with a house behind them, which left several sharp shards of green embedded in the wall. _Wow, I need that kind of power on the team,_ he thought. He pulled out a notepad from his bag and wrote: "Perry Salyut: Impressive speed and moveset, very capable for his age. Shortlisted."  
When he reached the small site of the battle, he spotted various books and items of stationary on the ground. Perry's bag must have been torn by the Razor Leaf attack. He picked up various objects belonging to the Treecko, such as some pencils and pens. He couldn't help but notice how many space-related items he had. His calculator had a galaxy pattern on it, and he had a book titled _Reaction Control_ , which had various images of spacecraft inside. He collected these and put them in the side pocket of his large sports bag and carried on walking to school. He knew he would have to tell the school about the attack, but that would probably mean Perry would not be allowed to go to the battle try-outs, if that was his intention. In any case, he would be put on the team even if he didn't attend, which could anger some of the other applicants, but this battle was a worthy enough demonstration.


	5. velut luna

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 4 - velut luna**

 **I decided to adjust my writing style slightly.** Instead of using double line breaks between pieces of dialogue, I will use single line breaks. This style is just a bit neater, more condensed and also a more popular method on this website. Not to mention it makes editing more convenient. I may get round to changing this on the earlier chapters, but it might not be right away. By the way, hope you like my slight adjustments to _O Fortuna_. If you know what the lyrics of the song means, it will make sense (ish).

Also, for the battle scenes, I won't necessarily be following either game or anime logic. I'm just going to write them how I like. This chapter will be a little longer than usual.

Thanks to Wubking97 for reviewing!

EDIT: 1st August 2016 - Some basic continuity edits, as well as a change in Sam's and Lucy's dynamic.

 **Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I didn't own Pokémon. I don't suppose much has changed since then.**

Perry jogged into his form room and looked around. He wasn't late, and not everybody had arrived. Even so, April had still decided to sit in the seat next to Perry's, despite the options available. He sighed and went over to his seat, a little hesitantly.

"Hi, Perry!" greeted April joyfully, "How are you?"

"Ugh, fine," he replied, annoyed, "You know, you don't have to sit there. You could sit anywhere in the class. I have an allocated spot."

"I could, couldn't I? But I like sitting next to you!" she said, acting oblivious to Perry's attempt to get rid of her.

"Really? Well, don't disturb me," he said, sitting down, unzipping his bag to find his book... _What? Where the-_  
At that moment, Mr Shank walked in, carrying a large sports bag. "Hello Gale," said Miss Enguard cheerily, looking up from her own book.

"Hello, Viola, hello class. I've got something for Mr Salyut," he said in return, unzipping the side pocket of his bag and dumping its content on Perry's desk; "There you go, it's all yours."

"B-but how did you find these, sir? I was just looking for these!" exclaimed Perry, confused.

"I found them dropped on the side of the road after your... excellent display of skill," he said with a wink.

"Wait, you were-"

"You're shortlisted. Nice work," he complimented, but then he gestured to Perry's cuts, "but you should get yourself patched up."  
With that, he picked up his sports bag and strode out of the room.

"What was that about?" asked April, summing up the thoughts of her new classmates, "And why are you covered in little cuts?"

"Oh, it was nothing. Just... Just a bit of a run-in."

"By the way, are you doing anything at lunch?"

"Er, no..."

"Great!" said April, before her face fell slightly, "Oh, right, I have the choir auditions. I missed them yesterday."

 _Oh, Arceus... I have to go as well. Not only will I be at some dumb singing audition, I have to be there with April,_ he thought, his situation maddening. But he wasn't going to tell April; he just prayed they would arrive at different times.

* * *

Maths was their fifth lesson of the day, and so far it had been quite uneventful. Perry and Sam strolled through the corridors to their final lesson before the lunch break, April trying to integrate herself with the two close friends. "Perry, you know we got some homework yesterday, when you were in the sick bay, for maths," Sam pointed out.

"Really? Well it's not my fault that I haven't done it," Perry replied.

"Well, you haven't met our new teacher, have you?"

"I think he's kinda nice," said April.

"Of _course_ you'd say that," Sam snapped, frustrated.

"What was the homework, anyway?" asked Perry.

"We had to do a worksheet on equations," said Sam, "and it was quite long."

"Well, he can't be _too_ hard on me because I wasn't even there."

"I think that's _why_ he'd be hard on you," said Sam with a frown.

The three of them walked into the classroom, just on time, and sat at their desks. April followed Perry and sat right next to him, which Perry sighed at. Their new teacher was a burly and quite intimidating Electivire, and his smirk wasn't quite pleasant.

"Welcome back, class," he boomed, sounding like a military commander, making the red spots on April's back flare up for a split second. "I hope you've all completed your homework, which was...?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Hmm?!"

April reacted, and answered cheerily, "It was to complete the worksheet on equations."

"And how many equations were on that sheet?"

"Thirty-two, sir," said April, her eyes darting around for confirmation. _Wait, how does a Quilava write equations? She hasn't got any opposable thumbs! Wait... I haven't either. And I get by playing simulators._

"And have _you_ completed it?" April gulped for a second. That was the first time Perry had seen her nervous. _And it doesn't look too bad._

"Y-yup, I mean yes, yes sir, I've- I have completed it- the homework, sir," replied April, stumbling on every word. There was a singular snigger from somewhere in the classroom.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" the Electivire yelled, before waiting a few seconds, "That's what I thought it was. So, if anybody has had any problems with completing their assignment, feel free to sacrif- admit yourself."

Only Perry raised a hand.

The Electivire's eyes shot towards him, like the targeting systems of a Magneton. He slowly stood up and walked over towards Perry menacingly. The Electivire's eyes were made of pure malevolence. Perry tried to put on his steely glare, the same one he shot at the Grottle from earlier, but all he could show for was a weak snarl, kind of like the ones little Poochyena give to their parents. As if they had their own memories, every one of the small cuts on Perry's body seemed to flare up, reminded of how they were born.

"And why have you raised your puny paw?"

"Er, w-well, i-it's because... well, I didn't com-"

"THAT IS FRANKLY UNACCEPTABLE-"

"B-but I wasn't here y-yesterday, I was in the sick bay-"

"You weren't in my lesson? You were shirking off?!"

"No, no, oh no! I c-collapsed in PE!"

"Did you now? Well, I'm sure Mr Shank can confirm that for me," said the Electivire, of whom Perry still did not know the name. The terrifying creature before him seemed to light up at the prospect of giving Perry the psychological torture of a detention... _As well as having to explain this to dad._ Of course, Mr Shank would back him up... he hoped.

* * *

Eventually Perry was able to get April to tell him the Electivire's name, through very careful and stealthy whispers. The rest of the lesson was, thankfully, relatively uneventful, and it ended with Mr Ternator leaving the room, and storming back in about five minutes later, presumably after a conversation with Mr Shank. Now it was lunch, so Perry and Sam snuck as quickly as possible away from the rest of the class so as to avoid dragging April along with them. Sam was slightly less keen on their escape, because apparently _"Your conversations are healthy for you, and they're also quite funny. Not to mention she likes you!"_ Biggest joke of the century. Then Perry remembered, again, that he had to go to the choir auditions.

"Really? You have to go to some choir crap? Well, I guess it'll be fine, 'cos April's gonna be there," said Sam unhelpfully.

"What're you on about? Her being there is what'll make it crap. Oh, and the singing. Especially for me and my voice," coughed Perry gloomily.

"You're really, like, overly horrible to her. Come on, stop being all grumpy, and at least _try_ to connect with her," Sam said sternly. Perry simply grunted.

The two Pokemon queued up at the cantine, got their trays of food, but Perry was forced to wolf his down because of the auditions. He was running out of time.

"Okay then, I gotta go now. See ya," said Perry, before taking his try to the trolley and dashing away down the corridor.

* * *

April was sat on a chair in the auditorium, with about seven other Pokemon, whilst a Granbull was on the stage, singing. A large Xatu was sat at a desk just in front of the stage, taking notes on the singers. All of a sudden, Perry burst through the doors of the large room, and dashed over to where the other Pokemon were seated.

"And who are you?" asked the Xatu, a little confused, but not angry. The Granbull kept singing a confusing Latin song from her script.

"Er, Perry Salyut," said Perry quietly.

"Excellent! My name is Mrs Buzzard. Please could you sit next to Miss Fuji, at the end of the line."

Perry did as he was told and sat down next to April, to his dismay. _Alright, dad, it's your fault if I die, whether it's hyperventilating or being driven to suicide,_ Perry thought to himself.

"Perry, you came? You want to sing?" whispered April excitedly.

"No, no I don't. My dad made me come to sort out my voice condition," replied Perry.

"Your voice condition? I think your voice sounds great," said April. Her frankly quixotic remark made Perry flush a little, "Okay, maybe not-"

"Ugh, I sound like a dying Ariados," Perry gloomily pointed out. Silence ensued, thankfully, as another singer was called onto the stage. Pokemon went on and off, until it was April's turn.

"Alright, wish me luck!" she said cheerily. With that, she bounded onto the stage and picked up the script that was on the floor.

"Um, yeah... I guess," said Perry apprehensively. He still didn't want to sound as if he wanted to be friends with the Quilava, but he didn't need enemies either.

"Can you read music?" asked Mrs Buzzard.

"Yup! I can!" replied April, eager to begin. Mrs Buzzard went over to a piano and hammered out a starting note.

"Key of D minor, got it?" asked Mrs Buzzard. April nodded.

" _O Jirachi velut luna statu variabilis,_ " she began to sing. Something about how high, smooth, yet firm her voice sounded mesmerised Perry. _Wow... Oh Arceus, she sounds beautiful,_ he thought to himself. The sound completely flooded all Perry's thoughts, and his restraint for compliments was destroyed.

" _semper cupit_

 _aut concedet;_

 _vita detestabilis_

 _nunc obdurat_

 _et tunc curat_

 _ludo mentis aciem,_

 _egestatem,_

 _potestatem_

 _dissolvit ut regice._ "

Both Perry and Mrs Buzzard were lost for words at April's singing. Perry's gaze seemed to settle behind April's eyes, which were looking intently at her sheet.

In no time at all, however, she was finished. The sudden end to the serene sound startled Perry for a few moments. "Okay, Perry, you're next!" said Mrs Buzzard excitedly, after hearing April's voice. All the other singers had left, except April, who waited to hear Perry's singing. His throat went dry. He cleared his throat for a moment. And the sound that followed surprised Perry more than anyone. He was forced to sing a couple of octaves lower than April. It wasn't truly top class, but it did sound okay;

" _O Jirachi_

 _velut luna_

 _statu variabilis,_

 _semper cupit_

 _aut concedet;_

 _vita detestabilis_

 _nunc obdurat_

 _et tunc curat_

 _ludo mentis aciem,_

 _egestatem,_

 _potestatem_

 _dissolvit ut regice_."

The song went on for another few verses. Perry was actually quite pleased... until he remembered _he wasn't supposed to be pleased_. April immediately started clapping.

"You know, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. This is one of those times! Well done!" congratulated Mrs Buzzard. _Damn. Now I'm screwed._

"Wow, that was great!" complimented April with a toothy grin.

"Ugh, well, thanks Miss, thanks April... I guess."

"Okay, well, we're all done now! You can go!" said Mrs Buzzard, Perry and April swiftly walking towards the atrium doors; "Actually, could you hang on for one second, April?"

"Sure," she replied and she trotted back towards the Xatu.

"That was some truly stunning singing, and I would be disappointed if you decided not to join, because I've shortlisted you now."

"Wow, really? Awesome!" exclaimed April.

"But one thing... what's wrong with, er, Mr Salyut? Perry?"

"Well, you mean his voice?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Well, I think he's been quite negatively affected by something a little while ago, and I think he's quite depressed about it... He's pretty stubborn about the subject, as you would expect," explained April.

"Yes, I understand. I'm accepting him as I think it'll do him some good. Well, take good care of him."

"Umm, what do you mean?"

"Well, it's obvious you like him, and although he probably won't admit it, not even to himself, he does like you. And he needs someone else to care for him, aside from his family," said Mrs Buzzard.

"Y-you think so?" stuttered April, "How can you tell?"

"I'm a Psychic-type Pokemon, remember."

"Oh, of course, Miss."

* * *

The last lesson of the day ended with music, which was with Mrs Buzzard for the second time of the day. Nothing interesting happened, except for April giving Perry some unusually warm smiles. Perry had quite a dilemma on his mind; should he go to the battle try-outs? He new he was already shortlisted, but that could change if Mr Shank saw any other exceptional battlers. His father had plainly told him not to go, but the battle with the Grottle earlier in the day was proof Perry could control his power. In the end, Perry gave in to Sam's urges for him to go, as it turned out Sam himself was participating as well. Annoyingly, April insisted on coming to watch the two battling.

The three of them walked out to the arena and sat in the stands. There were about one-hundred Pokemon all waiting for a chance to prove their worth. "I had no idea so many Pokemon were going to come!" exclaimed April.

"Me neither," said Sam.

Eventually the din of voices died down and Mr shank walked into the arena.

"Oh damn," sighed Perry, "I forgot to go to the sick bay to hide _these_." He gestured to his little marks from the morning.

"Welcome, everybody!" he boomed, his voice amplified just like the previous day, "It's great to see such a large turnout. That means our battles have to be short and sweet. Up on the big screen you can see the names of those already registered, your opponent or space for an opponent next to it. So, if you haven't already, please go to the front of the stands to sign up."

The arena was really quite high-tech, with electronic registers and a ridiculously huge screen for battle close-ups and match-up trees. Perry noticed that he was already registered, probably because Mr Shank had registered Perry for him earlier in the day. Sam was also registered, but there was one name he was less keen to see.

Ferdinand Cane.

He was a big Infernape, two years older than Perry, and was generally seen as a bully. The previous year he would often pick on Perry, but after one particular, never-spoken-of run-in, he hadn't physically bugged Perry since. He just hoped they didn't have to fight later on.

In battles, the Pokemon are trained to be able to knock-out the opposing Pokemon, not draw blood or cause injury that can't be quickly recovered from. Drawing blood is illegal in battling, so users of moves like Slash and Razor Leaf are forced to restrain themselves, unlike the Grottle from the morning. Splash is especially dangerous as it can easily cause drowning.

After roughly ten minutes of registering, everybody settled down and was quiet.

"Standard highschool battling rules apply; no drawing blood, obviously, and you have to stop attacking your opponent when they are knocked out. You will have read the rules when you registered. When the battle is over, the victor must help their opponent to the medics at the edge of the arena. Okay, so the first battle is between Perry Salyut and Tony Carter," announced Mr Shank. _Wow, so you really want to give me the spotlight?_ Perry thought. He stood up and April gave him an encouraging "Good luck!" with a cute smile. Sam nodded.

Perry made his way down to the arena and several laughs were shot his way. His first opponent was a Toxicroak. Perry glared fiercely at those who laughed at him, his swiftness in spotting them surprising them. He took his place on the arena and Tony took his, giving Perry a mocking smirk. Perry stared hard and cold back. He just waited for the mark. "Let the battle begin!"

Perry stood his ground as the Toxicroak's arms began to glow purple, as he charged a Poison Jab. He charged at Perry with impressive speed, but Perry was faster. He used Extreme speed to dodge and he launched himself away. It looked as if he had disappeared. After about twenty seconds of nothing happening, people began to boo.

"Hey, the Treecko chickened out!"

After another second, Tony was lying with his face in the dirt as Perry slammed into him with Extreme Speed. Tony tried to get up, but Perry struck him down with a Leaf Blade. Tony was out.

* * *

There was a general air of surprise and shock, that a first-stage Pokemon could so easily defeat a powerful opponent like a Toxicroak. There were some whispers of disapproval, but April decided to suddenly shout "Way to go! Great job!" and Sam joined in. Perry nodded and smirked at the Pokemon in the stands who said he'd chickened out as he helped his shocked opponent to the medics. He sat back in his seat with Sam and April to either side and gave a victorious grin.

"Well, I had no idea," said April with a grin herself.

"Me neither, you're definitely on the team!" encouraged Sam.

"Yeah, well there are plenty of battles to come," said Perry.

April was absolutely in awe. She had no idea he possessed such skill and power. More interestingly, however, was the fact Perry knew moves he should only be able to use once he was a Lucario. This made April want to become friends with him even more, so she could hopefully fix whatever what was wrong with him and discover what made him so unique.

After several battles had taken place, it was now Sam's turn. "Sam Otto, please, and Lucy Raymus."

Sam and a Luxray of a similar age went down to the arena awaited their signal. The Luxray shot Sam a look that was half a glare and half a seductive smile. Sam nervously shuffled, before taking his battle stance. She mouthed him devious a good luck from the other side of the battlefield. "Begin!"

Lucy's body began to glow and sparkle with electricity as she prepared to use a Wild Charge. Sam, like Perry, held his ground as she came charging straight towards him. With only a metre between them, Sam created a strong Protect that blocked the attack. Lucy staggered back with the recoil, allowing Sam to unsheath his scalchops. They began to shimmer a little as he lashed out, striking her under the chin. She leapt back and dropped into a pre-pounce position. Her fangs began to glow bright yellow. She leapt forwards, just grazing Sam's fur with her electrified fangs, shocking him for a second before he dived into the ground with a Dig. Lucy slammed into the ground and her charge was earthed, making her shudder. She watched the battlefield for a few seconds, but one of a Luxray's talents is its ability to see through anything. She quickly used Electric Terrain, making arcs of electricity course from her into the ground. Sam had no choice but to move.

He launched himself straight upwards, but Lucy had another Thunder Fang ready and her sharp canine teeth sank deep into Sam's fur. The electric shock was devastating. Small arcs of electricity would jump from his body as he was paralyzed. He was now heavily slowed down by the status condition, but he had a counter. He looked straight towards Lucy, crouched and then launched himself into the air, a trail of water following him like afterburning gases behind a jet aircraft. She simply didn't have the time to react as she was struck by the full force of an Aqua Jet and she was sent flying. She crumpled in a heap on the other side of the arena. Mr Shank was just about to announce Sam's victory when Lucy suddenly got up and let loose a massive Thunderbolt that struck Sam instantly. The massive, burning shock knocked the wind out of his lungs and he exhaled explosively. Electricity coursed through Sam's watery insides and he desperately tried to retaliate with Scald. The forceful stream of boiling water didn't have too much of a direct effect on Lucy as Sam was restrained by his paralysis, but Lucy received a painful burn. Lucy Snarled fiercely at Sam, which had some sort of psychotic effect on him, making him feel weaker. Before Sam could get off another move, everything suddenly went white as Lucy unleashed a painfully bright Flash. Sam was temporarily blinded and this gave her the opportunity to hit him with a devastating Giga Impact. Everybody in the stands gasped at the power of the move.

But Sam refused to be defeated.

Lucy had exerted all her energy in the attack and was panting on the floor. Sam prepared a huge Water Pulse between his palms and threw it with maximum force towards Lucy. It completely engulfed her, and she became extremely dazed and confused by the attack as she was almost starved for oxygen. Lucy furiously tried to release a Discharge, but the water around her diverted the attack straight back at her, shocking herself, only a little bit of the electricity leaving the sphere. Sam decided it was time to use a move he'd been practising for a while. He took a step back, a deep breath and filled his lungs with the densest, most pure water inside him and pumped it all out with an impressive Hydro Pump. It destroyed the watery sphere that Lucy was trapped in, but it sent her flying. She crashed into the wall at the edge of the arena, knocked out. _Now it's Perry's turn to cheer._ He jogged over to his downed opponent. "You gave me a tough battle. You very nearly had me there!"

"Well, it looks like our next _battle_ isn't gonna be so hard to win," said Lucy with a cheeky smirk.

* * *

There was tremendous applause as the hot steam that had formed around the arena began to clear. Many people had been initially in support of the Luxray, being quite an intimidating but attractive Pokemon. However, Sam's persistence and determination was enough to pull him through.

"Amazing work!" shouted Perry through the applause.

"Yeah! That was fantastic!" added April with a wide grin. Not the same cute one she gave to Perry, but encouraging none the less.


	6. Suicide Burn

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 5 - Suicide Burn**

This chapter will be focused a bit more on battles. Thanks to Wubking97 for reviewing! Oh, and I know that Shaymin isn't actually that bad competitively, which is why I felt Shaymin was just so fitting for the role. Also, I snagged the last line in this chapter from another popular book franchise. You get ten pieces of cheese if you get it!

Sorry this chapter is late, I was a little busy this week and it took a while to get this chapter right, I'm terrible at writing battles. Coding was so much easier...

 **Disclaimers: I don't own Pokémon. Also, the ten pieces of cheese offer is a lie.**

* * *

"Who da mon?!" yelled Sam victoriously, earning a couple of exasperated sighs from Perry and April. April realised she was supposed to reply; "You da mon!"

It was a little late, and very cringy.

But Sam was bathing in it. He unsheathed one of his scalchops and swung it around, adoring the attention he was getting. "Okay, okay, attention pig, the day's not over yet," remarked Lucy, who had decided to come and sit behind the three, "But I have to admit, you are kinda cute with the shell-sword thing."

"Wait, you already recovered?" said Sam, sheathing his scalchop with a flush.

"Well, perhaps you should've learnt Attract, and my _injuries_ would have been more permanent," said Lucy flirtatiously. Sam furiously blushed at this, making April giggle and even making Perry smirk a little.

"Okay, the next battle will be between Abbigail Dark and Ferdinand Cane," announced Mr Shank. Everyone watched as a bulky Infernape stood up and strutted to his position in the arena. At the other side of the stands a little Shaymin bounded down to the arena. Mr Shank looked quite confused for a few seconds, but then nodded his head in understanding. She simply smiled, not intimidating or intimidated. Ferdinand shot her an unfriendly glare, the flames on his back flaring up. "Is this the opponent I get?" he growled indirectly at Mr Shank.

"And begin!"

Ferdinand immediately began his battle with a Mach Punch, launching himself straight towards the out-of-place Shaymin. Three-quarters of the way to Abbigail he suddenly switched into a Flame Wheel, using his immense inertia from the Mach Punch to accelerate his rolling attack. But somehow the tiny Shaymin gracefully leapt away with unbelievable speed, releasing a small pulse of energy that penetrated the ground. Suddenly some deeply embedded plant roots appeared from the ground, snagging Ferdinand's legs, causing him to trip up and smash into the ground. Abbigail took the opportunity and released a dark-coloured ball of energy. It slammed into Ferdinand's chest and launched him a few metres.

"What the-"

Abbigail then flew head-first at the Infernape and shadowy blades lashed out at him and scythed across his skin. Ferdinand was sent reeling again, but quickly picked himself up. He suddenly split into dozens of flickering copies of himself with a Double Team and tried to confuse the unusually powerful Shaymin. He then discreetly started using Focus Energy so his next few hits would count, but then Abbigail began to sweep the arena with a huge Flamethrower that scorched the air, destroying all the Infernape copies. _How can that punk use Flamethrower?!_ Ferdinand thought. He was getting dominated at the moment by a _Shaymin_. Embarrassing. He barely avoided the wave of heat that she was producing. She then darted straight towards him with an Aerial Ace attack and smashed into Ferdinand's right shoulder, sending him to the ground, landing on his side.

The audience was roaring.

As the Infernape desperately struggled to get back on his feet, Abbigail simply smirked victoriously. Ferdinand shrouded his body in a blazing fire and charged straight towards her with a Flame Charge, but out of nowhere, she leapt several metres up into the air and slammed back down, a dark, almost three-dimensional shadow filling the entire arena. Ferdinand was plucked off his feet as if by the hand of Arceus. He came crashing down, completely dazed by the shock wave. She then fired a huge Hyper Beam straight towards him, which he barely dodged. The shaft of energy left a deep scoring that ran like a laser burn in strange lines and patterns around Ferdinands general position. He was beginning to catch a whiff of what was happening. Many large puffs of dirt rose from the arena's scars and began to drift around. He frantically looked at the Shaymin and realized his opportunity. He flew straight towards the small, fatigued Grass-type with a Mach Punch and nailed her against the opposite side of the arena. He then took a few paces back, before his arms and legs went up in flames. He dashed forwards and struck the Shaymin hard with a Blaze Kick-Fire Punch combo.

Just then, she began to flicker and shimmer. The three-dimensional image of a Shaymin was replaced with that of a strikingly beautiful Zoroark with a purple mane. Little purple pulses of energy began to enter her body, before blasting away from her, throwing the Infernape off of her. "Payback," she muttered. She then slammed her forepaws into the ground and a dark shockwave spread out around the arena at tremendous speed. Ferdinand jumped at just the right moment to avoid the Night Daze, but the air suddenly began to feel dry and he felt a little... dazed. He had to beat the Zoroark fast.

He stomped all four limbs on the ground, causing an Earthquake. The attack made any last dark waves vaporize and it knocked Abbigail off of her feet. She scrambled onto all fours and seemed to vanish for a few seconds. Ferdinand quickly engulfed his body in flames and stood his ground as the Zoroark materialized behind him, making him stumble a little. He snapped round and rocketed into her with a Flare Blitz and drove her into the wall of the arena then Blaze Kicked her into the air. He followed her into the air with a huge leap and before they began to fall his body began to radiate immense thermal energy. Abbigail smouldered a little as she fell. She hit the ground hard and small puffs of fire appeared on her fur. Ferdinand landed next to her in a crouching position. She was knocked out.

"And there I was, thinking you were a little cunning," mocked Ferdinand ungraciously, "And I admit, you were. But your punyness is on a whole different level." He was supposed to help his opponent up after the battle and escort them to the medical centre, but he walked off without a care. Instead, a bunch of Audino and Chansey had to bring her a stretcher.

* * *

"Even after the element of surprise was used against him, Ferdinand was still able to crush her," said Perry with a frown.

"Yeah, that worries me," agreed Sam,

"Well, looks like you're not in the spotlight anymore, Sam," said April.

A couple more battles took place, none of which were particularly exciting. The match-up for the final battle was to be announced, however...

"All the names of the combatants have been crossed off," stated April, "So somebody's going to be battling again."

"I wonder who," said Sam, noticeably void of his trademark sarcasm.

There was a minute wait, then Mr Shank made an announcement; "So, the judges- _"What judges?"-_ want to see just one more match-up this afternoon before we finish. Please can we have Ferdinand Cane and Perry Salyut!"

 _Oh no... no, no, no, no, no..._

Perry was terrified. He noticed Ferdinand was no longer nervous around Perry, and actually gave a dark smile. The crowd itself seemed to echo their emotions. Perry quickly walked to the arena floor whilst Ferdinand took large, firm steps. Perry knew that he was fast and was easily more nimble than his opponent in their last engagement, but much can change in six months. He decided he would use as many ranged attacks as possible.

"Begin!"

Perry cupped both his paws and held them about fifty centimetres apart. He focused his inner energy and a shimmering blue ball of aura formed between his paws. He released his focus and thrust his paws forwards, releasing a well-practised Aura Sphere. The powerful attack homed in on Ferdinand's aura and he desperately tried to dodge, but the attack was unavoidable. Ferdinand braced himself and dropped onto all fours, sliding back a few metres, but was relatively unharmed. He decided to let Perry make the next move to test his power.

Perry quickly made a mental list of all his feasible ranged attacks and thought about his most advantageous. _Alright, I got this,_ he thought calmingly. Perry planted his appendages in the ground and released a deadly storm of leaves from his mouth, but Ferdinand unleashed his own ranged attack; the Flamethrower attack simply incinerated all the leaves. Perry needed to up his game. He dug his legs in the ground and started to vibrate his arms incredibly fast. He cupped his paws again and this time created a large sphere of deep blue. He added a little force with his aura and sent the Water Pulse flying. The ultrasonic attack travelled straight towards his opponent. Ferdinand had little chance to prepare for the super-effective attack as he was expecting another Aura Sphere, and it hit him square in the chest, engulfing him in a massive bubble, starving him of oxygen and leaving him to the mercy of the psychotic waves. Perry could just about sense his opponent's emotions via his aura that accelerated the attack, and what he was feeling is often associated with various expletives which most would refrain from using in public.

Ferdinand had to act fast, or he would become delusional, not to mention his injuries. He formulated an idea which might be able to turn the attack around. He started to Overheat, weakening the bubble. His Overheat was nowhere near as strong as usual, due to his weak position, but the power was enough. It drained him of his specialized energy. The bubble burst and Perry was momentarily dazed as his aura was linked with it. Ferdinand surged forwards with a Mach Punch. Perry barely dodged and desperately materialized a bone for a Bone Rush defense. He lashed out in a panic, but Ferdinand slammed into him and sent him flying, the aura bone clattering away before dissolving into blue particles. Perry fought to get back on his feet, but was met with a flurry of punches and kicks with no regard for defense. Perry had no choice but to counter with Close Combat of his own. He managed to match most of Ferdinand's strikes with his own small paws and feet, one or two of Ferdinand's punches managing to connect with Perry's torso. The attack actually ended up as a bit of a reprieve for Perry, allowing him to re-focus and calm his mind. He scraped the backs of his paws together and let off a terrible sound of scraping metal that made Ferdinand recoil a little, before leaping forward with his tail sharpened into a Leaf Blade. He chopped at Ferdinand's arms and torso a couple of times, but then Ferdinand managed to grab the tail somehow and fling Perry many metres away. Perry then leapt back and then planted his four limbs in the ground, causing a violent, yet incredibly controlled Earthquake. Ferdinand launched himself temporarily into the air, but the Aerial Ace wouldn't last forever. He launched himself downwards at Perry and slammed into his chin, making his head snap back. Perry tried to counter it or turn the attack around, but to no avail. Ferdinand pounded Perry with punches and kicks, making Perry weaker by the second. He still had one option, however.

His eyes turned red for a second, and he released a deadly Dragon Pulse from his jaws which exploded violently sending both combatants sprawling across the field.

* * *

Perry's vision was badly distorted and he could barely see a thing. Whenever he blinked, his vision would go bright purple and blue as his visual cortex was still filled with the image from a few seconds ago. He could barely move due to the shock. He caught a couple of vague glimpses of Ferdinand getting up and advancing on him. Nearly sauntering. Perry could just about hear voices from somewhere behind him, telling _him_ to get up. He realised he was focusing on a Quilava's voice and mentally kicked himself for it. _Well, I just set off an explosion in my own face, so a little kick's not going to be too bad,_ he thought, referring to both his personal rebuking and the intimidating figure that was closing on him. He managed to push himself up into a sitting position and got onto all fours. He charged forwards with a weak Extreme Speed. Ferdinand grabbed onto him as he tried to jump to the side and punched him with a flaming fist. Perry got badly burned by the attack and he was getting weaker and weaker. Perry quickly laid down a Facade, the charred particles of his skin strengthening the nervous impulses throughout his body as he tackled his opponent. Ferdinand lost his balance when he took the hit and this gave Perry an opportunity to pound him with his tail. Just before Perry could withdraw and strike again, Ferdinand recovered from his daze and struck Perry round the head over and over. Perry Poison Jabbed Ferdinand's arm, an infectious fluid seeping into Ferdinand's bloodstream and slowly wearing him down. Perry's body then began to glow slightly red, his eyes like brake lights on a car and he tackled Ferdinand, forearms first. However, Perry could feel his Frustration attack was far less powerful than usual. _Why was that so weak?_ He bounded back and took a defensive stance but his right leg collapsed from his burn the previous day. He tried to haul himself up, but Ferdinand crashed into him with an extremely powerful and accurate Mach Punch that sent Perry reeling. He scrambled into a crouched position, allowing his leg to at least have a bit of a rest and fired off several Aura Spheres and Energy Balls in rapid succession. They each found their mark, one after the other, bringing Ferdinand to his knees. Perry half-crashed into, half- kicked Ferdinand's chest and opened up a barrage of kicks and punches with every limb but his right leg. He then began to charge a focused ball of orange energy and slammed it into Ferdinand's right shoulder. He collapsed to the ground, face in the dirt. Perry had won. He limped over to the downed Infernape, but as he did so he could kind of feel a terrible aura radiating from his opponent's body. He must have been thinking up a dark, Nasty Plot.

"The victor of the final round is-"

At that moment, Ferdinand stood up impossibly quick, and stamped his feet as his body went up in flames. Several blasts of fire erupted from the ground in lines straight towards Perry, launching him several metres in the air, flying away from where he was initially struck by the Blast Burn, and he landed nearly at the other side of the arena. He was knocked out cold, ironically.

"-erm, is Ferdinand Cane," Mr Shank finished awkwardly, stuttering in shock. Ferdinand strolled towards Perry, much to their audience's surprise, and helped him up.

"See, not such a badass anymore," whispered Ferdinand cruelly, "Looks like I need to re-establish myself." He dragged the much smaller belligerent of their heated battle over to the medics, and dropped him without a care in the world.

* * *

"That should not be allowed!" exclaimed April with a frown.

"Yeah, what the actual-"

"Hey, look, the Neandertal is _right there_ ," cautioned Lucy, referring to the terrifying Infernape as one of those hulking mythical creatures from an alternate universe.

"Alright everybody, this has been an exciting evening of battling, and we will be making our decisions about who is to join the team by the end of the week, when we will inform your form tutors. Now we wouldn't want to keep you waiting, but we need all the participants sign out on the digital registers at the lower end of your column. If you need to, please allow any combatants still in the medical centre another five minutes before you go to see them. Thank you, everyone, and good-bye!" said Mr Shank with his amplified voice.

"Five minutes," said April.

"Yeah, but why do you want to see him?" said Sam with a frown.

"Well, why do _you_ want to see him?" said April, wearing a playful smirk.

"You see, I'm his friend."

"Well, there ya go!"

"I'll come too. He was an impressive battler, and he seemed like a nice guy," said Lucy.

The three of them walked to the medical centre and waited outside for the remaining two minutes, before they were allowed to enter. Only six Pokemon were still here, despite the amount of battles that had taken place, including Perry. He was lying on a bed, with copious amounts of Rawst juice slathered all over his body. A carton of Sitrus juice was sat on his bedside table, squeezed of all its contents, next to a Potion bottle. "Worse than a Sticky Web," commented Lucy with a slight smile. Perry shook his head to attention and groaned.

"Ugh, you mean the juice? Yeah," Perry said.

"What did the nurse say, Perry?" asked April.

"Umm, she said I need to wait another twenty minutes before it's all settled."

"But it's already quarter-to-seven," said Sam, "Your dad will be expecting you."

"Huh, _-cough-_ I guess. He _probably_ won't murder me." The other Pokemon gave him worried looks. "I was joking, it's fine."

"Well, I need to pick up my brother, Miles, from the youth club," said April.

"By all means," said Perry.

"No, no, it's fine. I'll wait."

"Yeah, we all can, don't worry," said Lucy, who Perry couldn't see, because she was stood behind his head.

"Oh, well, thanks guys."

"I just want to say, Sam and you are impressive battlers," she complimented, "But I came pretty close in our battle, Sam."

"Perhaps," mumbled Sam.

"Remember what I said. If you want, I could buy you a Tutorial Medium," taunted Lucy.

"I don't need TMs, thank you very much! I learn all _my_ moves legit," Sam huffed.

Lucy giggled. "But anyways, Perry, your battle was pretty unfair. He _was_ knocked out, and Mr Shank was just about to announce you as the winner. He just managed to quickly recover."

"No, it was all part of his plan," Perry explained, "He pretended to be knocked out to get a chance to make a Nasty Plot."

"But still, you totally owned him," said April.

"Yeah, that was a dirty trick," added Sam.

"Ugh, just get over it. Not everyone's gonna fight fair, you know."

"Well, Sam, next time, we're battling on _equal terms_ ," said Lucy, flirting again with Sam.

"Oh could you cut that out? I'm dying here!" said Perry, barely containing his laughter, unlike April who nearly broke down in tears.

They did stop laughing... eventually.


	7. The Veil of Jupiter

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 6 - The Veil of Jupiter**

According to Roman mythology, Juno was Jupiter's wife, and also the only being that could see past Jupiter's veil. However, it's not only Jupiter who wants their actions concealed. It's time to start laying the foundations.

Thanks to Wubking97 for reviewing!

 **Disclaimer: Pokémon ain't mine.**

* * *

Perry, April, Sam and Lucy chatted for a while as they waited and April started to learn new things about her newfound friends. Perry had finally opened himself up, and was even talking to somebody he had only met in the last hour. He seemed to be a much friendlier guy, but still, something was off in his behaviour. He still seemed nervous, and very jumpy. But he apparently had a good sense of humour, so their conversation wasn't boring. April wondered if Perry himself realised he was different. Every so often, the nurse would come in with some more Sitrus juice and apply some Potion to his skin.

"Cool! So, Perry, what kinda stuff are you into?" said Lucy inquisitively.

"Well, I like space, and playing various simulators... I don't have much of an interest in films," Perry replied.

"Not even sci-fi? Do you like Staryu Wars?"

"Sci-fi means science _fiction_ ," Perry said with an imperceptible frown.

"Well, have you heard about the new MASA moon station thing?" she asked. As if someone had flicked a switch behind one of Perry's ears, he went full fanboy. His obsession - April still called it that - was kicking in.

"Oh, yeah, that's awesome! Only two months to go! I researched all the technical data regarding the station, and I even downloaded some raw parameters from MASA's database!" He reached over the side of his bed towards his bag, but winced slightly and couldn't reach.

"Er, here," said April with a crooked smile as she lifted Perry's bag onto his bed. He sat up and tried to cross his legs, but quickly gave up. He then withdrew what seemed to be a toilet-roll's worth of printed data.

"So where do we begin?" He unwound the entire roll of paper and draped it over the head of his bed. He ran it though his paws with incredible efficiency until he found the section he was looking for. "After its final positioning burn, the station will have an orbit as close to eccentricity zero as possible..." he rambled, making his companions sweat-drop.

However, Perry's interesting... speech was interrupted by the Blissey nurse: "Okay, then, seeing as you're able to sit up, I think you're fine to go..." She looked at the mess of technical data sheets. "... once you've cleared _that_ up."

"Er," Perry looked around him, "Right, of course. Thanks, Nurse Bliss."

"Yeah, thanks for taking care of him," said April, making Lucy raise and 'eyebrow'. Perry frantically rolled up his exciting pieces of paper and secured them with a rubber band and carefully dropped everything in his bag. "Okay, we're good to go," he said with a breath of satisfaction. The four of them strode out of the medical centre, and out of the impressive arena building.

"Oh no, it's five-past seven! My dad'll be wondering where I am," said Perry, a little panicked.

"No, I'm sure it'll be fine. We're at a point now where it's obvious you're with somebody, and a few minutes isn't going to make much of a difference," said Lucy logically, "and I'd like to meet your dad and mum." As she said this, Perry clenched his fists and looked at the ground. His demeanour instantly changed with only one sentence. And it dawned on April; she had been trying to figure out what had happened to Perry to make him so depressed, and she had her answer. "Oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry," apologised Lucy, placing a paw on his shoulder. Perry immediately brushed it off with quite some force, startling Lucy. That really shouldn't have made him _that_ emotional, right?

"D-don't be... I can never control it..." muttered Perry, "I best get going." He quickly broke away from the group and ran ahead, opening the distance between them rapidly.

When Perry reached home, without using Extreme Speed due to his fatigue, he found his father was still not home. He pulled his key out from his bag and unlocked the door, and confirmed this. With a mental shrug he dragged himself upstairs and buried his head in his pillow.

* * *

Before the remaining threesome parted ways, they decided to head to the Sandgem Labs to hang out, like the previous day.

"I genuinely had no idea," said Lucy with a frown.

"Neither did I, but I knew something was up," said April to make Lucy feel better.

"Well, I've known for a while, but I never felt it was a good topic to approach," Sam said, giving his own input, "but I guess someone needs to sort it out."

"Yeah, tomorrow I'll see if I can have a chat with him about it. I just want to help him out," said April, "Anyways, Lucy, what form are you in?"

"Me? B2. Aren't you in C2?"

"Yeah, C2," said Sam, "So our form rooms are quite close."

"That makes it easier to hang out, before school and between lessons," said Lucy, the mood finally lightening, "And, I get to see _you_ more often." She prodded Sam in the chest. April giggled as Sam's cheeks flared up, making him look as if he had some type of hemorrhaging.

"Hi, Sam!" exclaimed a deep voice from somewhere behind the group. They all turned around to see a tall Lucario who shared almost all of Perry's defining features. He had a rolled up lab coat over one arm, a large clipboard in his opposite hand.

"Oh, hello Mr Salyut," greeted Sam.

"I keep telling you, call me Lucas. And who are your friends?"

"Er, this is-"

"Hi, my name is April! I recently moved to the area!" said April with a wide grin.

"Ah, yes, Perry told me about you. And you?" Lucas asked.

"I'm Lucy, Sam's-"

"-most recent acquaintance." finished Sam hurriedly, as Lucy gave him an evil smirk.

"Ah, I see. _Anyways_ , I thought Perry was with you," said Lucas with a frown.

"Well, I think it was my fault..." explained Lucy, "I said it would be nice to meet you and your wife, and then he got really upset and, er, we kinda figured out why."

"I hope he didn't have... an outburst, or anything."

"No, no, it wasn't like that," said April.

"Oh, good. He just has some tendencies..." he began, before stopping midway through a breath; "I'd like to have a chat with you guys. You know, Sam, until now, you were Perry's _only_ friend. As in, he refused to socialize with anyone else. And I thank you for all your efforts in changing his personality." Sam nodded and gave a , and Lucas continued. "He's gonna be a handful, and I want you to understand he needs help. Help that a father can't give alone, and now he has a group to turn to, I just hope he has who he needs to become a likeable person. So, please take care of him, be as harsh as you must, but don't control him... Essentially, be friends." Lucas looked down at the floor, and his gaze hardened a little. "His mother would've hated to see him like this. So far you may have only seen him in quite a subdued state. He's never violent, unless, of course, he's battling, but he's not overly careful." There was a short period of silence, during which everyone was thinking deeply.

"Excuse me, how did you know we were with Perry earlier?" asked April.

"I can read auras, as you know, and I'm pretty good at it. I could sense you had been in contact with Perry."

"Ah, right."

"Okay, please, please, remember what I've said today. I think it'd be great if you guys could come round for dinner one night, and maybe he'd have a chance to invest you in his hobbies," said Lucas, lips almost curled into a smile at the last statement.

"I think that'd be great!" exclaimed April.

"Yeah, it's been a while," said Sam.

"I'm in," said Lucy simply.

"Great! It won't be too hard to find you, I suppose," said Lucas.

"Nah, I've got Perry's number," said Sam, "though in hindsight, it probably won't be of much use."

"Well, we can sort it some other time. It's getting late. Great to meet you!" said Lucas, waving. And with that, he walked to the Salyut residence.

"He was nice, but he seemed like..." began Lucy, but she couldn't find last word.

"He seemed affected, albeit to a lesser extent," finished April with a slight sigh, "Alright then, I guess I'll head off, and leave you two to... be friendly."

Sam inadvertently coughed loudly, most likely due to the small embers and puffs of smoke that were rising from April's back. It helped hide the mad blush that formed on his cheeks at April's knowing smile.

"Bye then!" she said, waving.

"See you around!" said the other two in unison.

"So, how about coming to my place? We got plenty of food," said Lucy in a sing-song voice once April had gone.

"Er, no, it's okay. Also, I've got some chores to do."

"Aww, really? Come on... You know you want to," she said, almost purring.

"No, it's fine. Maybe tomorrow."

"Well, fine," she chuckled, before she leant into Sam's ear and whispered; "Well, make sure you get to school _early_."

* * *

Lucas made the short jaunt from the lab to his house quite rapidly. He serially slid his key into the keyhole, and turned it as tacitly as he possible could. Perry was either wearing his headset -playing some simulator- or asleep. Even though both activities tend to suppress most sound to the listener, Perry always seemed to notice. He was incredibly sensitive to noise, and Lucas didn't want to wake him up if Perry was sleeping, or he would take a while to strike a conversation with. Lucas tip-toed up the stairs to the bedrooms and silently pushed open Perry's door. He was lying under his covers, only his face exposed, and he was staring straight at the ceiling, apparently oblivious to his father's entry. His eyes were slightly wet, but that contrasted with his expression; the tears were like liquid lethargy bleeding from his eyes.

"Hey, Perry," whispered Lucas softly, like a mother. Perry mumbled something imperceptible.

"How are you? Hungry?"

"No," he grunted bluntly.

"So, what's up?"

"Nothin'."

"You are a terrible liar. Additionally, I can read your aura like a book."

"You don't need to worry about it," he said, turning his small head to the side.

"Come on, I'm your dad."

"It's just... Well... I was with some new acquaintances today, but I doubt they still acquaint with me..."

"Go on," said Lucas encouragingly, even though he essentially knew the story.

"One of them said they wanted to meet my father and mother," Lucas didn't approve of how Perry said 'father' instead of 'you', "and I kind of broke down, and ran off."

"Well, that's not the best way to stay 'acquainted' with somebody, is it?," Lucas said, and Perry nodded, "But your friends _(Perry tensed at the word)_ seemed okay with it."

"But I have no-"

"Oh, come on. Admit that Sam is your friend, at least," said Lucas sternly.

"Wait, you met them?!"

"Yeah, I saw Sam chatting with two girls, including April, and decided to talk to them."

"But how did you know they'd been with me?"

"Don't ask silly questions," Lucas chuckled.

"Oh, right," Perry sighed. His mood seemed to have settled somewhat; "Oh, what about that food?"

"What food?"

"You asked if I was hungry."

"Okay, then, I'll cook again. Quick or tasty?"

"Both," said Perry with a cheeky grin.

"Twenty minutes." Lucas was glad to see that Perry had already 'recovered' from his state. Lucas started heading back downstairs, but just as he was about to step off of the landing, he remembered something he needed to ask. He popped his head back in Perry's room.

"One more thing. How were the try-outs?"

Perry appeared startled for a moment. "But-"

"Oh, come on. I was expecting you to go, even if I told you otherwise. Mr Shank phoned in and told me about your encounter this morning." Lucas gestured to a shallow mark on Perry's left arm.

"Um, I beat my first opponent, a Toxicroak, quite easily and nearly beat my second."

"How many seconds did it take to beat the first?"

"Er, nineteen-and-a-half."

"And who was your other opponent?"

"Mmm..."

"I know you remember his name, and you're anxious."

"Cane... Ferdinand Cane," Perry sputtered somewhat shakily.

"What?! Did he do anything to you?"

"Outside the game? No, but he was a bit dirty in his victory."

Lucas gave his son a worried look; "What do you mean?"

"Well, he pretended to be knocked out then hit me with a Blast Burn."

"Really? Have you still got any burns?"

"No, no, the medics had plenty of berries and Potions."

"Good. Just make sure you don't get into a fight with that primate again." warned Lucas with an assertive tone. Perry gave a mumble of concurrence.

* * *

April pulled out her house key and unlocked the door, only to be met by her mother, Tora, just about to leave.

"Oh, my, April! Where have you been? I was just about to go searching!" cried the tall Delphox.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I was hanging out with some new friends," said April apologetically.

"Well, it's great to hear you've found some friends already! Come on in, and tell me about them." April's mother led her daughter inside, and her Cyndaquil younger brother, Miles, was ecstatic to see her.

"Hiya April!" he greeted loudly.

"Hi, Miles, shouldn't you be in bed by now?" April inquired.

"Oh, you rotten do-badder!" he moaned, using some made-up language.

"Yes, Miles, your sister is right. Go on, clean your teeth and get to bed," instructed Tora with a motherly sternness. When he had made it upstairs, April decided to initiate conversation.

"Where does he get all this weird language anyway?"

"He's been watching too much Noibatman."

"Oh, I loved Noibatman when I was a kid!"

"You still are a kid, April."

"Ah, of course."

"Anyways, lets hear about your new friends."

April gazed up at the ceiling for a few moments.

"Okay, there's Sam, a Dewott who's cool and an impressive battler, there's Lucy, a Luxray, also a good battler, who has an interest in cinematography, and there's..." April began to drift off.

"Go on."

"Well, there's Perry, who's a bit strange. There's something up with him, and I really want to help him..."

Tora was giving her undivided attention, as well as a funny look.

"He's rude, dismissive and quite obsessive, or at least he was when I first met him yesterday."

"Sound's like hard work to me," spoke another voice, and April turned around to see Typho, her Typhlosion father, who had just came out from the kitchen.

"Hi, dad. Yeah, and I see where you're coming from. Except, I don't think it's his fault. Something major happened in his life." Both her parents were listening intently. "I ran into his father today, with Sam and Lucy. I didn't really press, but I know his mother's gone. Most likely dead, and under mysterious circumstances."

"Pretty depressing, huh," said Typho, stating the obvious.

"Yeah... I just want to help him, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a happy, content, and quite humorous side to him, before Lucy said she wanted to meet his mother and father, which made him have some sort of a break down."

"Sounds like you already care for this guy."

"Of course I want to help- oh, come on, not like that."

"Ya know, those kinds of thoughts are the ones that develop."

"Yeah, well, at the moment I don't see him as some handsome boy, I see him as a child lacking help, support, and..." April paused. "Lacking friends. Perhaps he is , in fact, skilled, strong, and smart. But that doesn't mean he's fine up _here_." She tapped on her forehead indicating Perry's mind. Her parents could tell she was quite passionate about the situation, as the red spots on her back were kindling; a betraying characteristic of Quilava.

"Well, I don't know what to say until I get a chance to meet this Perry fellow, so just do what you do best," said Tora, and Typho nodded in agreement.

* * *

On the opposite side of the world, a Beheeyem with blue eyes surveyed a vast army of Pokemon from a platform high up, in some sort of huge hangar. He appeared to exude a fearful aura to those around him, even to a huge Garchomp. The army of Pokemon in the hangar seemed to be made of primarily Grottle which stood purposefully in rows of about eighty. After about thirty or so rows, there were three rows of Torterra, then five rows of Blastoise that were pumping their cannons. Behind them were various well trained looking Pokemon, such as Bisharp, Weavile, Gigalith and Electivire. There were huge, overgrown Avalugg which seemed to be acting as aircraft carriers, with various Pokemon and equipment on their backs, such as Noivern. On the flanks of the huge army were large pools of water containing rows of Sharpedo and Seismitoad.

"Sir, is our progress adequate?" spoke up the Garchomp, carefully surveying the Beheeyem.

"Report," it said with an authoritative and synthesized, yet unstimulating voice.

"An additional twenty platoons of Grottle in the last week, along with various black ops squads."

"Yes, the size of the assault force, given our current date, is within acceptable parameters. Per contra, I believe we would benefit from supplemental artillery Blastoise, Colonel Gnawson," stated the Beheeyem, as if it had an internal thesaurus, "and I am nigh certain my master would concur."

"Of course, sir," said Colonel Gnawson, "but Blastoise are difficult to find, let alone recruit."

"The descriptor you used was 'difficult', not impossible," said the Beheeyem with a robotic scowl.

"Right away, sir," said the Garchomp, turning around and beckoning a Genesect to him; "We need another battalion of Blastoise. Get them as quickly as possible. The date of the attack is only-"

"And, I believe the primary battalions could be scaled up by a factor of one-and-a-half. Out task is not to be trivialized." interjected the Beheeyem.

"As you wish," growled Gnawson, suppressing the drawn out exhalation that followed.


	8. Multiple Rendezvous

**Perryapsis**

 **Chapter 7 - Multiple Rendezvous**

I'm sorry for the huge delay (is that two weeks?!). I've been doing watersports training and the writers' block finally hit me. This chapter went through at least ten different iterations. It was originally meant to be romance-centric, but I think the final version is a bit more refined. Oh, by the way, I'm just going to pretend Garchomp and Gabite have claws instead of... _a_ claw, just for the sake of convenience.

As of this chapter's upload, Perryapsis has 540 views! Yay!

Thanks to Akira and Wubking97 for reviewing!

 **Disclaimer: i not own pokemanz git gud**

* * *

Everything was dark. Pitch black, a dreamless night. Bleak, empty and vast.

Of course, describing the insides of Perry's eyelids as 'vast' would be quite an overstatement... They were literally only a few centimetres wide.

And not one-hundred percent opaque, either.

Which was why Perry was suddenly blinded by the harshest of lights imaginable as Lucas tore Perry's curtains open. The dreaded Thursday morning.

"Ugh... Lucario can't learn Flash," Perry moaned, three-quarters asleep.

"Well, it's not _that_ bright," Lucas lightly teased, "Come on! A nice, relaxed morning to prepare yourself for the day ahead. I'm making Spoink and eggs, for your information."

"Hey, do you think it's _actual_ Spoink?"

"Probably not. But it's almost as fatty, and that's all that matters."

"I swear you eat the fattiest food on this planet, and never put on an ounce," Perry muttered, as Lucas jogged downstairs to superintend the burning death of their breakfast. Perry slowly rolled off his bed and instinctively slapped the top of his alarm clock, even though it had been broken for six weeks. He gave a half-hearted attempt at one of those over-dramatic morning stretches they do in those crappy movies, and it felt good. He rubbed his eyes vigorously, trying to clear his vision of the dust and dried tears of the previous night.

The previous night.

He was sorry. Although Perry was hardly social, he knew the way he just broke... or snapped in front of them was unacceptable. He was going to atone for his behaviour directly. But on second thoughts... He didn't really want to. No, there was no way in the distortion world he'd do it without a consultation. But again, he was by no means a fan of conversation, so he only really had one source of help.

Perry stuffed a couple of books into his bag, with the aid of his timetable, and tiptoed downstairs. He walked into the kitchen to be met with the delicious aroma of cooking oil and bacon.

"Here ya go," said Lucas, putting a plate in front of Perry as he sat down at their small table. Lucas then took a plate for himself, as well as cutlery for the both of them. Perry tore at his wealthy subsistence and wolfed it down in a couple of minutes. It was only 7:50 AM according to the kitchen clock.

"Why did you get me up so early, dad?" he asked.

"I already said, so we could have a leisurely morning," he replied with a slight smile.

"Well..." Perry began cautiously, wiping his face with the back of his paw, "I need some help."

"With what?" his father said, raising an 'eyebrow'.

"Umm... Yesterday... Oh, you already know. Well, I want to- no, I think it would be good to apologize to my acquaintances, but I just don't know how."

"Well, you just go up to them all friendly and say s-o-r-r-y," Lucas replied, segmenting the last word.

"Oh, you know what I mean."

"You know how to be polite. Don't be aggressive, be calm and let them speak if they want," Lucas explained seriously, "Just be nice."

"Of course, I forgot, that's _too easy_ ," Perry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, it is. Come on! You need to be independent on social things like this!"

"Perhaps I do..." Perry murmured gloomily, "Well, thanks for the breakfast."

"You're welcome. See, that was polite."

"Yeah, whatever."

Perry dragged himself upstairs. It wasn't even eight o'clock according to his watch, so he stepped into the shower. He hadn't had one in three days and now he stunk of not only sweat, but also a whiff of bacon and eggs too. He had a brisk, invigorating wash-off. He quickly dried off his skin which was glistening slightly and brushed his teeth. Slinging his bag on his back, he went downstairs and said a quick goodbye to Lucas, before setting off. It was only 8:10 AM, so he had over half an hour. He decided to head the same way as the previous morning, heading past the labs and to the site of his battle with the Grottle. On the way, however, he ran into somebody he was dreading.

"Hiya, Perry!" exclaimed April from behind Perry, "How's your morning been?"

"Er, fine actually," he replied. _Here I go._

"Umm, April, I-I just have something to say," he began guardedly, "I'm sorry for my behaviour last night."

"Hmm? What behaviour?"

"Well, on the way-"

"Oh that, I thought nothing of it!" she semi-lied, "Don't worry about it!"

"Really? Oh, okay then."

"How about we walk to school together?"

Perry really couldn't argue now. They were in no rush and he'd just apologized for his behaviour. But he wanted a bit of a jog for exercise. "Er, can we run? I know it's early, but I just want to get my muscles warm."

"Sure!" April replied warmly as they set off. Perry forgot that April was actually quite athletic, as she demonstrated on her first day and she had no trouble keeping up with his light-footed jog. With each bound, the red spots on April's back flared up and spat out sparks and embers. Occasionally one landed on her face and she had to blow or flick them off. Perry couldn't help but find it quite cute, which he scolded himself for.

"Hey, Perry, look at this!" April said, stopping Perry.

"At what?" he asked innocently, but inside he was panicking. He didn't want anybody to know about his confrontation with the Grottle the previous day. He just thought it would leave a bad impression, somehow.

"At these marks, everywhere. Look at this weird burn mark all over the pavement, and this blast mark. Oh, and that house! It's got sharp leaves embedded in it!" she said, investigating her surroundings.

"I haven't the slightest," he muttered, trying slightly too hard to move on. April trotted up to him and pulled out Perry's right paw, which had deep scratches similar to the ones on the ground and buildings all around.

"Umm, yesterday, didn't you say you had a run-in?" April, suspicion in her voice.

"Er, n-no, no I didn't..."

"Why are you lying to me? You already demonstrated how capable you are at battling yesterday."

"I-I just don't want anybody worrying about me, or to give a bad impression, okay? I didn't just go up to some random Grottle demanding a battle, he was threatening a Pichu and decided to harass me 'cause I had a bag on!"

"So what kinds of moves did he use?" April asked, looking genuinely worried. Perry hesitated.

"Ugh, Solar Beam, Leaf Storm, umm..."

"Hey, you should really get yourself checked out!"

"But I was healed after my battle with Ferdinand, remember?"

"Yes, but what if you were hurt internally? Leaf Storm is a deadly move!" she cried, putting her paws on his shoulders, "You could be really hurt!"

"No, no, don't worry..." he said, distracted by their closeness. He could feel April's soft breath on his muzzle. It smelt pleasant, not overly perfumed, but sweet... _I swear, if you don't get your brain in gear, I'm gonna gut you._

"Well... umm, just be careful. Please, for me," she whispered, frowning.

"For you?"

"Er, f-forget that bit," she stuttered, taking her paws off Perry's shoulders. Little flames kindled on her back. "Let's just get going."

The pair made it to the school in about five minutes and walked in through the main gate. They were among about ten Pokemon there this early. Perry saw a flash of blue and black entering the building via the main door. "Wait, I could've sworn I just saw- Oh, nevermind..."

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Perry replied. He didn't want to seem like an idiot if he was wrong. "Okay then, I'm gonna head to the library to do some reading, so see ya at form."

"Hey, can I come?" April pleaded. Perry really didn't want any company, but again he was trying to be on good terms with April today.

"Ugh... okay then."

Perry led the way to the library through the school, which April didn't know, being new. On the way, they passed their form room, and to their surprise, Lucy was standing outside the room, confirming Perry's hypothesis of who he'd seen entering the building.

"Hiya Lucy!" April greeted with a wide grin.

"Umm, hi April," Lucy said, slightly deflated.

"So, who are you waiting for?" April asked, jumping straight to the point, although she already knew the answer.

"Uh, whadayamean?"

"Well, it's obvious you're waiting for somebody. Is it Sam?"

"No, no I'm not... I'm just hanging around, on my own..."

April gave Lucy a knowing smile, as Perry tried to break away from the group. "Can we please get going?" he asked, a little annoyed.

"Sure!" April said, following him as he started to leave.

"Hey, you're not doing too bad yourself!" Lucy called out behind them with a mischievous grin, heating April's cheeks.

April and Perry eventually made it to the library and had about twenty minutes to read. Perry went straight to the science section, delving into the shelves for space books. April tagged along, pointing out books which she thought looked interesting.

Perry had to admit, he was starting to enjoy April's company. There was a voice in the back of his head, reminding him she was annoying and constantly getting in his way, however, she clearly cared for the Treecko, and genuinely wanted the best for him. It would be cruel not to at least acknowledge her. _But aren't you meant to be cruel anyway?_

"So, can you teach me about space?" April asked curiously.

"Er, what do you want to know?"

"Well, what're you interested in?"

"Er, I like orbital mechanics and spacecraft design."

"Well, teach me about orbital mechanics!" April said, enthused. Perry pulled a book from his bag and opened it on a desk, pulling a couple of seats into position. The two Pokemon sat down, and Perry began to explain the basics.

Ferdinand Cane leisurely strutted into his form room, late by about two minutes. He couldn't care less.

"Excuse me, Mr Cane, but why exactly are you late?" his form tutor, a burly Krookodile, asked.

"'Cause I'm lazy, Mr Crook," he replied simply.

"Well, you're lucky I haven't taken the register yet," Mr Crook said, sighing.

"Lucky? Well, next time I better get here on time," he muttered, loud enough for the teacher to hear.

"So, class, today I'm introducing a new member of your class who couldn't quite make it for Tuesday, Miss Gnawson," he announced, beckoning for an attractive Gabite to come in. She walked into the room, wearing a sly smile as someone gave her a wolf-whistle.

"Hi guys and gals, I'm Gabby and I'm fifteen. I hope I enjoy my time here!" she said quickly, with a toothy grin (well, a land-shark can't give anything _other_ than a toothy grin).

"Yup, please can we make her time as comfortable as possible, class?" There were various sniggers and at least one Pokemon yelled 'of course we will'. "So, where would you like to sit?"

"Umm, I dunno, how about next to the big monkey?" she said, going over to Ferdinand's desk and sitting in the empty seat to his right. Ferdinand gave her a wide smirk.

"Hey, big monkey? What's that about?"

"Well, I didn't know... Wait, you're an Infernape, right? Sorry 'bout that."

"Nah, just teasin'," he said, "So, what brings you to Sandgem?"

"Well, ya see, I've been living in Unova for most of my life, but my mom got a new job so we had to move."

"Ah, the accent gives it away. From the big parts?" he asked, putting on a western accent.

"Yeah, I guess, Castelia."

"Anyways, what do your parents do?"

"Well, my mom's a mountain guide on Mount Coronet, and she really enjoys her job. I've been up with her a couple of times in the summer."

The two of them, along with the rest of the class, continued to chat. Ferdinand earned a few dirty looks from his classmates as he and the Gabite got to know each other better. It disappointed Ferdinand a bit, that everybody seemed to think he was some psycho battler, but he had to assert his dominance. Eventually the time came for the first lesson of the day, so the class departed their form room and headed to the languages department.

"So, what's our first lesson?" Gabby asked.

"Umm, I think it's languages," Ferdinand replied with a sigh.

"Oh, cool!... I guess. I mean, languages are probably my favourite lessons..." Gabby said, before noticing Ferdinand's slight look of distaste. "Then again..."

The form entered the classroom, and sat down at their desks, with Gabby next to Ferdinand. Their teacher was a tall Furfrou who spoke with a strong Kalosian accent.

"Hello! Bonjour! Hola! Nǐ hǎo! Hallo! Konichiwa! Zdravo! Hej! Ahoj! And finally, bonjour!" greeted their teacher enthusiastically, "Je m'appelle Madame Fleury, et je suis votre nouveau professeur de langues."

Most of the class just sat their, scratching the backs of their heads.

"Would anyone care to translate?"

A mischievous Cacturne raised a thorny hand.

"Oui?"

"My name is Miss Furry, and you are my new language teachers."

"Excusez-moi, pourquoi vous êtes un retard?"

"Er, excuse me, why am I a-" Madame Fleury menacingly paced towards the Cacturne's desk. "Oh sorry, you didn't want me to translate that part."

The teacher evilly deadpanned, her sudden change of expression noticeable, while the rest of the class just facepalmed. "You will be wanting an extra-large dinner tonight, as you'll be missing your lunch for my office."

The Cacturne groaned, holding his head in his hands for a moment.

"Well done, Spiny," Ferdinand called out, rolling his eyes.

"There's space for two, pour votre information," Madame Fleury added, the tips of her mouth curled up.

"No, no, don't worry about it," he replied with a wave of his hand, Madame Fleury rolling her eyes.

"Are you sure? If you really want, it could easily be arranged."

From that point on, the lesson went quite smoothly, Madame Fleury introducing their new topic, _L'histoire de Kalos._ Gabby continued to receive attention, and the Infernape and the Gabite quickly became friendlier. Most of his class was surprised to see that Ferdinand actually wasn't a psychopath... at least for the moment. They weren't going to put it beyond him just yet. At the end of the lesson, the class had settled down a bit, and Madame Fleury was, surprisingly, quite pleased with their research into the Kalos War. They were dismissed and all but one Cacturne set off for the cantine.

"Hey, Ferdy, you wanna get lunch together?" Gabby asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Umm, 'Ferdy'? Who d'ya mean?" Ferdinand asked with a look of mock indignation.

"That's what I'm gonna call you from now on. 'Ferdinand' is three syllables, so it's a bit tedious to say."

"Oh, thanks. Great to see you're going the extra mile," Ferdinand chuckled, "Shall we gt going?"

"Sure."

The two of them set of for the cantine, passing through various corridors. On their way past the library, however, the pair ran into a small figure that looked as if it was carrying a mountain of books, at least, comparative to the size of the carrier.

"Er, hey, I appreciate you getting these for me, but you didn't need to get me all those books. I mean, I like space and all, but, well... I've got plenty of... more resourceful books than those," called out a raspy voice from within the library, to the figure stumbling around. That annoying voice Ferdinand recognised, and it belonged to Salyut. The Pokemon who, he hated to admit, nearly took him down during the battle try-outs the previous evening.

"Oh, right. Well, I wanted to do some reading on the subject too," replied a new voice that Ferdinand didn't recognise.

"Well, that seems a bit... over-enthusiastic," added a Dewott, just departing the library too, a Luxray in tow.

* * *

As the group were fumbling around outside the library, they didn't notice the two taller figures approaching.

"Hi there," greeted the shorter of the two, a Gabite with a feminine voice, surprising the group somewhat, "D'ya want some help with that?"

"Er," Sam said, as Perry began to unburden April, "perhaps."

"Umm, how do all these books not fall off your back?" Perry asked, exasperated.

"I'm holding them," April replied. Perry was able to lift a third of the books and cradled them in his arms.

"Here," said the Gabite, picking up another third with ease, "Where d'they want to go?"

"Well, maybe two-thirds could go back in the library, and April could hold on to the remaining third, if she wants," Lucy suggested.

"Alright," April sighed. She straightened out, dropping her books on the floor, and picked them up in front of her. Just as Perry was turning to go back in the library, he spotted Ferdinand just standing there, wearing a scowl.

"Go on," he growled.

"What are you waiting for?" Perry asked with a glare.

"I'm waiting for _her_ ," he replied with the same tone, nodding at Gabby.

"Hey, hey," Lucy butted in, trying to seperate the two, "Perry, go on." Perry went back in the library, Gabby following behind.

"Hey, aren't you the Shinx who lost to _that dork_?" Ferdinand asked cruelly, pointing at Sam, "I'm not taking any crap from you."

"Hey, Lucy's a Luxio, not a Shinx, and _I'm not a dork!_ " Sam yelled, placing a hand on the hilt of his right scalchop.

Various heads turned around the corridor, noticing the confrontation. At that moment, Perry and Gabby walked back in.

"Hey, what's going on?" Gabby asked, confused. Ferdinand immediately backed down.

"Why don't you stay away from us, or I'll make your life _hell_ ," Perry threatened, fists balled.

"Don't you threaten me too," Ferdinand grumbled.

"Come on, let's just go," Gabby said, trying to break up the confrontation. She grabbed Ferdinand's wrist and pulled him away.

"Oh, thanks for the help," called after Gabby, referring to both the books as well as the potential scuffle.

"No prob," replied Gabby, looking back with a slight smile.

When the two had left, the tension in the corridor immediately seemed to dissipate.

"Wow. He is a true prick," Lucy said.

"Agreed," Sam muttered, sidling up to Lucy with his blade finally re-sheathed. Perry's fists were still balled.

"Does he ever bug off?" Perry growled. April dropped her books and but her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face her, just like the morning. Perry again found it somewhat pleasant.

"Come on, he's gone now. Why don't we just go get our lunch?" she said in a soothing voice.

"Ugh... okay," he sighed, shaking his head and rubbing his forehead.

"Is something wrong? Have you got a headache?"

"Umm, n-no..."

"Already like a couple," Lucy whispered to Sam, trying to lighten his mood. April just about heard it and feigned rubbing her cheeks so as to conceal the pink tint that was creeping onto her face.


End file.
